Category Archives: Tu-Na Quilts

Tu-Na Quilts: Christmas in July Has Arrived-Day One

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This year’s blog hop is hosted by Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Today’s participants can be found here and they are offering:

Friday, July 14th

Confessions of a Fabric Addict (she posts at 12:01 AM Central time) Sarah will be offering a quilt-along during these 12 days. Her post gives fabric requirements and cutting instructions. I hope you will join along as we sew our way through the rest of July. If you can’t participate now, remember this quick, easy tutorial when you need a quilt pieced NOW.

From My Carolina Home Carole makes sewing a zippered bag look easy. She offers the free tutorial and gives directions and pictures. Take it one step at a time and you’ll soon have one (maybe more if you can’t stop making these) gift made for someone on your list.

Vrooman’s Quilts If you have kids or grandkids, you might like to see these ornaments out of CDs that the kids can make. Jump start the little ones creativity, today!

Pampered Pettit  Are your pillows looking tired and worn? Breathe new life into them with Brandy’s quick pillow sham/covering tutorial. You could also make new covers for your existing pillows in pretty holiday fabrics and add some holiday cheer to your sofa/couch.

Remember to comment on each of the blogs above to qualify for some big fabric giveaways. If you need more info about the giveaways, see my post here.

What I Learned Today:

  1. “A good joke beats a pill for a lot of ailments.” Emery Styron (as quoted in an old Ann Landers column I found while cleaning off my desk)
  2. If I need to get something done, don’t expect someone else to do it especially when no one else is around.
  3. My son is very helpful. It will be sad to see him move out. No job offer yet but there is hope.
  4. Writing a post takes up a lot of time that I could be using finishing up my projects. I am not sure I will post every day, but I thought I’d at least get this hop started out and let you know the variety of things being offered.

Question: If Christmas really came in July, how different would your celebration be?

Thanks for stopping by and do come again.

Karen, Tu-Na Quilts

Tu-Na Quilts: Sounds are Being Heard up on the Rooftop-The 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop Starts Tomorrow!

I thought you might like to know that it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my sewing room. And for good reason! Tomorrow starts the 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop hosted by Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

I’m scheduled to post on Monday the 17th. (If you are popping in now, you can see my post here.) But I won’t let the fun stop there. Oh, Tu-Na has been hard at work and what I have to show you takes more than one day.

See my post schedule below. Join me here on:

  • Monday, July 17, 2017 for Tu-Na Quilts: On the Fourth Day of Christmas, My True Love Gave to Me… I will show two of the Christmas projects that I’ve prepared for this event but I am not revealing everything. Christmas is all about the anticipation of surprises ahead!
  • Wednesday, July 19th, 2017 for Tu-Na Quilts: The First Reveal—What’s Inside the Stocking?
  • Friday, July 21st, 2017 for Tu-Na Quilts: The Second Reveal—You Mean There’s More?
  • Sunday, July 23rd, 2017 for Tu-Na Quilts: The Third Reveal—How Much Can It Hold?
  • Tuesday, July 25th, 2017 for Tu-Na Quilts: The Fourth and Final Reveal—Does The Fun Have to End?

With so much Christmas magic happening can it get any better? Oh, yes, it can! There will be a giveaway for each day of the hop. You can enter by commenting on the assigned blogs for that day (check the list below) AND on Sarah’s daily blog post at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. You have until July 26th to leave all your comments. Everyone is welcome to enter no matter how far away or near you live. (This giveaway is open world-wide).

And as if great holiday ideas and tutorials weren’t enough, this year we’ve got something extra special!  The lovely folks over at Free Spirit Fabrics have donated not just one item for a giveaway, but THIRTEEN!  Thirteen prizes from Tula Pink’s new holiday line, Holiday Homies!!!

giveaway

Sarah has six design rolls, six layer cakes, and one fat quarter bundle to give away– and here’s how she’s going to do it!  You will need to visit each stop on the hop, including hers, and leave a comment on each post for the day. 

For example: Comments left on my blog on the 17th, which is my assigned day, will qualify you for this giveaway as long as you also comment on Sarah’s blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict,  Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life, and Crayon Box Quilt Studio blogs. That allows you to be entered for the giveaway for that day. You can do this for each day and increase your chance of winning some delightful Christmas fabric to get you started making surprises for people on your list. Just remember, you have until July 26th to read and comment on all the blog posts for this event. (Sorry, but commenting on my posts on the 19th, 21st, 23rd, and 25th won’t help you earn your way to this prize but I appreciate your doing it anyway.)

On July 27th, Sarah will put everyone’s name in the hat who commented on a particular day (from all that day’s hop-blogs) and draw a winner for that day.  That will be twelve winners – the design rolls and layer cakes.  Then she will put all the names from all the days in a hat and draw out a grand prize winner for the fat quarter bundle!  Sorry, only one prize per person.

Here’s the list of participants. I’ve added Sarah’s blog link to each day for your convenience and so you won’t forget to stop by her place. too. Oh, and when you do, say hi and tell her that Tu-Na sent you.

Friday, July 14th

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

From My Carolina Home

Vrooman’s Quilts

Pampered Pettit

 Saturday, July 15th

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

 Citymousequilter

Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting

Quilting Fun

 Sunday, July 16th

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

 Swimming in a Sea of Estrogen

Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Cheryl’s Teapots2Quilting

 Monday, July 17th

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

 Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats

Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life

Crayon Box Quilt Studio

 Tuesday, July 18th

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

 Seams To Be Sew

Stitchin at Home

Domestic Felicity

 Wednesday, July 19th

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

 The Colorful Fabriholic

Smiles From Kate

 Thursday, July 20th

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

 Cheryl’s Teapots2Quilting

The Inquiring Quilter

Selina Quilts

 Friday, July 21st

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

 Katie Mae Quilts

Quilted Blooms

QuiltFabrication

 Saturday, July 22nd

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

 Devoted Quilter

Kathy’s Kwilts and More

All Points of the Compass

 Sunday, July 23rd

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

 Mel’s Quilting Blog

Resourceful Momma

Cheryl’s Teapots2Quilting

 Monday, July 24th

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

 Anja Quilts

PickingandStitching

A Dream and a Stitch

 Tuesday, July 25th

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

 Christina’s Handicrafts

Abyquilts

Are you excited yet?

What I Learned Today:

  1. It takes a lot of time and work to prepare for Christmas, even in July.
  2. An attitude of gratefulness is a good character trait to have. Thank you, Sarah, for organizing this event so that we can get ideas and inspiration to make things for our friends and family on our Christmas list.
  3. “Persistence will get you almost anything eventually.” Emery Styron (as quoted in an old Ann Landers column I found while cleaning off my desk).
  4. Thoughts of Christmas, even in July, evoke memories of family, foods, and fun.

Question: What do you want for Christmas? I’ve told my husband that all I want for Christmas is some fabric covering a longarm quilting machine. I’m more likely to get a sweater to cover my arms.

Merry Christmas in July,

Thanks for stopping by and do come again.

Karen of Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats

Linking to:

Tu-Na Quilts: Three More Poodles Have Come to Play

I’ve been away from home enjoying family time at Pelican Lake in central Minnesota. When I returned home a day ago, our mailbox was stuffed. Needless to say there was a lot of commotion inside.

I rescued Marcel just in time as any longer in there and he would have bitten right through the envelope and escaped (it was half opened)!

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We could hear Marcel while we were driving up to the mailbox. It wasn’t hard to discover who was howling and singing the blues for being cooped up for so long; just look at his background fabric.

Marcel came all the way from England. He was made by Kate who blogs at Smiles from KateHe is indeed handsome and will work well with all the other pups who are starting to gather around here. Kate also included a charm of beautiful fabric that will work its way into some quilt project. Merci, Kate!

Sue from Australia, who blogs at Sevenoaks Street Quilts, made this adorable Ricky Doodle the Poodle block. Merci, Sue! I’m thinking of doing something special on this quilt with those names that my mates have given to their hard work. It will be subtle but readable.

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Ricky Doodle the Poodle must be a dog that minds his owner very well as he stayed put inside the envelope even though the taped end was completely open.

Janice from Idaho, who blogs at Color, Creating, and Quilting, made this delightful poodle. I don’t think this one has a name yet. I’m thinking this is a she poodle and needs a fancy French name. Any ideas?

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This playful pup was so busy inside the sturdy mailer playing with or guarding all the extra scraps that Janice sent along that she didn’t need to chew through it.

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The wine/burgundy pieces will be perfect for cornerstones for this quilt. There’s enough of the black and white ones not only for a 1.5″ square of each for my postage stamp quilt but also for furry accent pieces for more blocks. Merci, Janice!

I won’t be able to ask my other bee group to make these adorable little poodles for me as I had planned. The blocks exceed the cutting/sewing time limit of 1.5 hours for this group. As I look in my crystal ball, I see myself sitting and sewing many more of these but left facing. I suspect I’ll be chain piecing a pack of them so it’s good that I’ve worked the pattern down to doggie science.

I’ve finished putting all the construction tips for this poodle block on the Bee Inspired blog. I hope they were helpful for all my Bee mates and will be helpful for you if you want to make some of these darling poodles for your own. The free pattern for this right facing poodle is available here at The Objects of Design. Sally’s got other block tutorials on her blog, too, located in a tab on her header. If you haven’t visited her, do stop by and see what fabric adventures she and her furry helpers have been up to.

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Meet Cherise, my newest poodle that I made while writing the poodle block construction tips and Paris travel posts. This second block went together much easier and faster than the first one. I still encountered a problem but with some quick surgery and a few new words added to my vocabulary, she was good as new.

I started writing “What I Learned Today” years ago. I shared these Paris trip journal entries on those posts as well as some very interesting photos of sights we saw and food we ate. Here’s the links to all of those posts. You are welcome to stop by and read them.

Tu-Na Travels: Day One in Paris which includes Part un (1): Pattern and Fabric Selection.

Tu-Na Travels: Day Two in Paris and Poodle Block Cutting Tips which includes Part deux (2): Cutting and Anatomy Labeling.

Tu-Na Travels: Day Three in Paris and Prepping Those Furry Pieces which includes Part trois (3): Prepping the Furry Accent Pieces (Foot poofs, Tail, and Ear).

Tu-Na Travels: Day Four in Paris and Prepping the Poodle Body Parts which includes Part quatre (4) Prepping the Poodle Body Parts.

Tu-Na Travels: Day Five in Paris and Prepping the Background Pieces which includes Part Cinq (5) Prepping the Background Pieces.

Tu-Na Travels and Quilts: Day Six in Paris and Building the Frame Around Our Pampered Pooch which includes Part Six (6) Building the Frame Around Our Pampered Pooch.

Tu-Na Travels and Quilts: Day Seven in Paris and Finishing the Leftovers which includes Part Sept (7) Prepping the Last of the Extra Pieces.

Tu-Na Travels and Quilts: Day 8 in Paris and Assembling the Poodle which includes Part Huit (8) Some Assembly Required.

What I Learned Today:

  1. A week at the lake is exhausting.
  2. Coming home is nice.
  3. Coming home to a mailbox filled with fabric already sewn into blocks is even nicer. Thank you, Kate, Sue, and Janice!!! Your hard work and sewing skills are much appreciated. Merci.
  4. My newly college graduated son has been called back for a third interview. We might be empty nesters again.

Question: What’s your favorite vacation activity—skiing or boating or____? My favorite vacation activity is sitting around a campfire with family and toasting marshmallows, making popcorn, or pies. We never did get any pies made on the fire last week as we had so many marshmallows to use: square ones  (these are really a good idea), huge ones (too hard to eat but I gave it my best), regular size, and vegan ones (I never tried these).

Au Revoir,

Karen

Linking to:

 

 

Tu-Na Quilts: More Poodles Came to Play

I’m still posting Poodle Block tips over on Bee Inspired. It’s my month to be Queen Bee and I’ve been having some fun going down memory lane with the poodle block I chose to have my hive mates make.

Tu-Na Travels and Quilts: Day 7 in Paris and Finishing the Leftovers just published on the Bee Inspired blog here. You are invited to come and check it out. These tips might be helpful if you want to make some of those adorable right facing poodles that Sally from The Objects of Design designed which is available here.

In the meantime, my knight in shining armor, ok. maybe not the one pictured below,

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One of the many suits of armor we saw in Paris.

but my husband, came in from the mailbox a couple of days ago saying, “Woof, woof, woof, woof.” I guess that meant there was mail for me.

tunaquilts 23aThese delightful poodles came all the way from Velda who lives in Canada and blogs at Granny Can Quilt.

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Here’s Odie. He is a star. These fabrics are gorgeous.
Odie

Here’s her real Odie showing you his ability to fit in with his human family by sitting all proper on the couch. He only got to roam around Velda’s house for two years before heading to doggie heaven but he will remain a star in her heart forever. This picture was taken by Granny Can Quilt and used with permission.

 

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This one is called Tigg and is modeled after one of Velda’s poodles who now lives with her. Don’t you just love that background text fabric?

Tigg

Here’s Tigg in real life. Look at that pose!! He is a handsome fella and is the senior poodle at Velda’s house. This picture was taken by Granny Can Quilt and used with permission.

The guys came bearing gifts.

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Tigg is bringing in some 1.5″ strips for me to use in my postage stamp quilt. Odie is carrying a piece for the cornerstone for this poodle quilt.

Thanks, Velda!! These poodles are gorgeous and I will definitely make use of the strips. Your hard work is much appreciated!

What I Learned Today:

  1. Belonging to an online quilting bee is a lot of fun especially this month.
  2. I’m looking forward to the mail tomorrow.
  3. I’ve only got 5 days to get my Stash Bee block finished and in the mail! It’s a red, white, and blue string block. It should be fun but I am so busy this week since my sister is coming to town and we’ve got at least one quilting day planned and a girls day out.

Question: If you were in a bee, what block would you choose?

Linking to Main Crush Monday, Monday Making, Moving It Forward, Katie Mae Quilts BOMS Away. Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River,

 

Tu-Na Quilts: A Poodle Came to Play

I thought I’d write a quick post to let you all see that I now have a lovely little poodle to play with. Well, actually, Jennifer from The Inquiring Quilter, made me this block for my Bee Month and it arrived on Thursday. She also included three 1.5″ squares of the fabrics she used so I could include them in my postage stamp quilt. Thanks, Jennifer!

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Made by Jennifer at The Inquiring Quilter.

 

I’ve been busy writing about my trip to Paris and posting construction tips on what’s turning into being a block sew-along this month over at Bee Inspired.  I was in Paris three years ago and had already started writing “What I learned today” posts in my journal. I’m including them to give you my impressions (and sometimes humorous insights) of Paris and the things my husband and I saw, did, and ate. Each post also includes some detailed poodle making tips.

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Here’s the poodle parts all prepped. Labeling makes this project so much easier.

 

You are all welcome to stop by and read about my Paris adventures and even sew up a poodle or two or more for yourself.  The free pattern is found on The Objects of Design.

Here’s my latest post on Bee Inspired which also includes links to all the Paris and poodle posts. Tu-Na Quilts: Day Four in Paris and Prepping the Poodle Body Parts.

I still have a few more Paris posts left to write as there are still a few parts left before our pampered pooches go parading.

What I Learned Today:

  1. I can “knock out” a post in less than 15 minutes.

Question: Are you a dog or cat person? To me dogs are he’s and cats are she’s except for these poodles; some definitely have he looks and some have she looks.

Linking to: Em’s Scrapbag for Moving It Forward, Monday Making, Katie Mae Quilts BOMs Away, and Main Crush Monday. Design Wall Monday, Tips and Tutorials Tuesday, Linky Tuesday on Freemotion by the River, Wednesday Wait Loss, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop, Finished or Not Friday.

Tu-Na Quilts: Progress on “She Has Her Mommy’s Nose”

Yes, there is hope that I will finish this little quilt soon. I renamed the quilt in this post. I’ve got a ton of different projects going all at once, some secret sewing and some with deadlines, but I am making some headway with this one. I’ve sewn all the blocks into rows.

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Now just to press the seams, sew the rows together, quilt, and bind. That may sound like a lot but really it’s all down hill from here, at least for me. I’ve already got a quilting motif in mind which is more than half the battle to finishing at this point.

But I do need your help. As I am getting closer to a finish for this sweet quilt, I am thinking ahead and want to select just the right binding for it. I originally bought this peach for the binding but now I am not sure.

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Possibility A

But then I started leaning towards the greenish teal.

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Possibility B (the coloring is more like the pic above than the one below)

And now I think it could use just a tish of color. I remember how Tish of Tish in Wonderland likes to bind her quilts with a flange. I think you can see that hint of color around the edge best on her many quilts in this post.

Possibility C

I really appreciated all of your comments (see this post) when helping me to decide on the size of this quilt. I was really torn about what to do so I asked the new mommy for her opinion and she said to keep it as is which will be a nice crib-size or toddler bed size.

But this binding is a quilter’s question. So please leave a comment which you think would look best and help me get to a finish: A, B, or C. I thank you very much!!

What I Learned Today:

  1. Decision making is not one of my strengths.
  2. There are a lot of decisions to make when sewing a quilt.
  3. It’s always nice to ask a friend(s) for help.

Question: A, B, or C?

Linking with Wednesday Wait Loss, Finished or Not Friday, Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Let’s Make Baby Quilts, Sew Can She, Moving It Forward Monday, Monday Making, Main Crush Monday, Jos Country Junction, WIPs, Linky Tuesday on Freemotion by the River,

 

Tu-Na Quilts: Happy National Sewing Machine Day!

I thought I’d be sitting down in front of my sewing machine humming away (the sewing machine that is) all day until I realized that today is a very important day. Since I’ve had this partially written post in draft form just lying around, I thought this would be a good day to dust it off, finish it up, and hit publish.

I have two houses in two states that are far apart. This means I have a fabric stash and a sewing machine in each house. But it wasn’t always that way.

Up until last fall, I lovingly carted my beloved Pfaff back and forth between houses. 

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Here’s my Pfaff Creative 1475 CD model. I have lots of different feet for this one. I like the way they snap on and off so easily and I like the needle threader. But it has way more stitches and features than I have ever used. I’ve sewn my daughter dresses and hats with it. I’ve sewn my boys lots of pants and caps with it. She’s been through a lot of fabric through the years.

But I knew there would come a time I had to stop doing that (toting the machine back and forth) and decided it was then. Yes, I intentionally, left her behind last fall. It was hard to do as we (us dedicated quilters and sewists) can get quite attached to our machines.

I love that old machine. She works like a charm. I thought I’d be able to find another one just like her at my other house since that is in an area with lots of people and shops. But sadly none was to be found. After looking for a used machine for several weeks, and having a quilt that needed to be finished by Christmas, I decided to take the plunge and look for a new machine.

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That took a few weeks and finally I made a decision to buy one, no, two machines: one for home and one to cart to class or work day with the quilting group.

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But my husband said that sewing table needs to be cleaned first and then he’d help me lift them out of the box. My sewing space is close to the laundry area and garage entrance and becomes a catch-all place.

 

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I made speedy work of stashing the stuff. Now I was ready to open those boxes.

 

Both of those machines together cost almost as much as our new car did in 1979. If you add in the cost of all the extra feet I purchased, that put it over the cost of that 4 door Citation. My husband was in shock. “But both of them are on sale,” I pointed out. “And the feet and accessories are 25% off.”

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Here’s a shot of her in action. I was working on the Mod Bear quilt, which I did finish in time for Christmas and have yet to write a blog post about.

Today I salute all three of my machines. Without them, I’d be doing it all by hand.

What I Learned Today:

  1. According to the internet, the invention of the sewing machine saved countless hours of time (since about 1 hour of machine sewing was about the equivalent of 14 hours of hand sewing). I imagine with today’s impressive machines, even more time is saved.
  2. The tailors of yesteryear feared the invention of the sewing machine since they saw it putting them out of business.
  3. The first sewing machines cost $15.00 and was still cost-inhibitive for many thus making the tailors feel better.
  4. I love the built-in scissors and automatic needle threader functions as well as that 11 inch throat on my new machine. However, the button to lift the presser foot is a bit hard to get used to. Now that I am back sewing on my Pfaff, I am always trying to push the invisible button and wondering why my presser foot isn’t going up. I imagine when I get back to sewing on the new one, I’ll be forever searching for the lever.
  5. There’s a day to celebrate almost everything. Today is also:
  • National Make Your Dream Come True Day
  • National Call Your Doctor Day (I hope you don’t need to do that)
  • National Weed Your Garden Day
  • National Kitchen Klutzes of America Day
  • National Cupcake Lover’s Day
  • and International Axe Throwing Day

Question: Which one will you celebrate?

(UPDATE) This post was published yesterday-June 13, 2017. So today we are onto celebrating National Bourbon Day, National Pop Goes the Weasel Day (I kid you not), National Flag Day, National Strawberry Shortcake Day  (I celebrated that on Sunday), and International Bath Day.

Linking to: Sew Fresh Quilts, Midweek Makers, Mama Spark’s World, Katie Mae Quilts, Silly Mama Quilts WIPs, Wednesday Wait Loss

 

Tu-Na Quilts: Now, We Have an Elephant Parade

With the sudden and speedy delivery of the baby elephant, Lily Rose, last week, I can now officially say we have an elephant parade.

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The happy new family is snuggly stitched together.

Notice that Lily Rose has her mommy’s nose. I am making this quilt for the baby of my best friend’s daughter.

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When my friend called to tell me that the baby had arrived she said, “And she has her mommy’s nose.” Sounds like a good name for this quilt.

I’ve even sewed some of the blocks into rows. 

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I will be adding side pieces onto the elephant row. And where are the missing rows?

I’ve still got three rows to sew.

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They are sitting beside my machine to remind me to sew them first before other things.

I sure am glad I took good care of those blocks while traveling. It’s making sewing and laying out the rows so much easier. I’ve had to do some playing around with my sewing machine and moving the needle to make sure the scant 1/4″ seam allowance matched the ones made on my sewing machine at my other house.

If you missed all the excitement of her arrival last week. catch up here with

 Tu-Na Quilts: Let’s Make Elephants (Here I describe how my pieces traveled from one house to the other).

Tu-Na Quilts: We Have an Elephant Parade  (The happy couple is expecting) 

Tu-Na Quilts:        ’s Arrived!!! ( Tu-Na, DOQ {Doctor of Quilting}, helped with the delivery of this wee one)

However, much of my time and writing this month is being used up over on the Bee Inspired Blog where I’m sharing some of my adventures and misadventures of my trip to Paris as well as some construction tips and trials as I sew another poodle block for myself using this pattern from The Objects of Design.

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You are welcome to stop by:

Tu-Na Quilts: All Aboard. Fasten Your Seatbelts. We’re Taking Off for…

Tu-Na Travels: Day One in Paris

Tu-Na Travels: Day Two in Paris and Poodle Block Cutting Tips

Tu-Na Travels: Day Three in Paris and Prepping Those Furry Pieces You will never guess who we meet today.

and do check back on Bee Inspired all month as I’ve got more funny and interesting Parisian stories to tell and see some gorgeous French Poodles heading my way.

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What I Learned Today:

  1. There’s been way more writing happening than sewing in my house lately.
  2. The poodle block is actually quite easy when separated into steps.
  3. I do miss being in Paris.
  4. Beth, over at Cooking Up Quilts, mentions my coneflower double star block that now belongs to Cathy, on today’s Main Crush Monday post.  I miss that stunning block but I have those fabrics safely tucked in their own bin for a quilt using that same block pattern for me. I stop to admire and pet them every now and then. Anyway, Thanks Beth!! I’m honored!!!
  5. I “pet” fabrics? Hmmm, this household is going to the dogs.

Question: Where have your travels taken you? I’ve been to London. I’ve been to France, and Germany, and traveled the U.S. extensively. But we honeymooned in Canada.

Linking to Monday Making, Main Crush Monday, Moving It Forward, Design Wall Monday, Let’s Bee Social and Midweek Makers, Jo’s Country Junction, Mama Spark’s World, Katie Mae Quilts, Silly Mama Quilts WIPs, Wednesday Wait Loss

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Tu-Na Quilts: She’s Arrived!!!

The proud parents and Dr. Tu-Na are pleased to announce the arrival of Lily Rose at 2:41pm Central Time today. She measures at 7.5″ x 8.5.”

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Here she is on the delivery table (ironing board) shortly after birth. I notice I still need to cut the cords (thread) yet.

 

Mom and baby are doing fine. Delivery went faster than expected.

Dad is snorting to all that Cha Cha (grandma) says that Lily has her mother’s nose. 

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The doctor, however, is tired and may go take a nap.

(The free pattern for this adorable small elephant can be found here on the Sew Fresh Blog. Thanks, Lorna! See my previously written post here (Tu-Na Quilts: We Have an Elephant Parade) for more info about this new mom and dad.)

What I Learned Today:

  1. Being creative is tiring!
  2. So is writing two blog posts in one day!

Question: A baby elephant is called a calf. A baby rabbit is called a kit —short for kitten. Who knew? What are other babies called?

Thanks for stopping by,

Karen A.k.a. Tu-Na, DOQ (Doctor of Quilting)

Linking to Wednesday Wait LossSew Fresh Quilts, Silly Mama Quilts WIPs, and Midweek Makers.

Tu-Na Quilts: We Have an Elephant Parade

Maybe two elephants don’t really make a parade yet but this elephant couple is expecting their first baby and it’s coming soon. Well, actually, an elephant baby is called a calf and then this could be a parade.

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The free pattern can be found on the Sew Fresh Quilts blog by Lorna.

 

Did you know that the gestation period of an elephant is 617-645 days— almost 2 years? Elephants have the longest gestation period for mammals. I wonder if there is any living thing that is longer? And I thought 9 months was a long time to be pregnant.

elephant 3a

It’s a good thing that this baby quilt has not been in the works for 2 years. I better get working on it to get it finished. Besides that, this little one (elephant) will be making his or her appearance soon–maybe even this afternoon. Will it be a boy or girl?

elephant 4a

I first posted about this quilt here (Tu-Na Quilts: Let’s Make Elephants). The pattern for this large (8.5″ x 11.5″) elephant can be found here on the Sew Fresh Blog.

Update: The baby elephant has arrived!! Read all about it on this post if you missed all the excitement (Tu-Na Quilts: _____’s Arrived!!!)

What I Learned Today:

  1. Thinking about a project takes more energy and time than just sitting down and doing it. Those elephants were rather easy to sew.
  2. Work more and procrastinate less.
  3. I’ve learned a lot of group names from you. It’s been fun and interesting to read your responses. If you think of more, go back to here (Tu-Na Quilts: A French Poodle for Moi) and comment. It will help me gear up for our Trivia night when I go back to AZ.

Question: Pick an animal/bird/insect/reptile/etc. What is its gestation period? Here’s one to get you started. Rabbits spend about 31 days in “the oven.” And that explains why we have so many rabbits running around our yard and in the garden this year.

Linking to Wednesday Wait Loss, Sew Fresh Quilts, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?, Finished or Not Friday, Sew Can She.