Quilted Delights

2 Shirt Quilt Tops Complete

2012-01-26T16:35:00.001-05:00

Only 4 more to go.

Since these quilts are going to Aunt Darla's kids I asked her which background she preferred for these 9 patches. She chose the black so that is what I went with. I must say I like how it turned out. This top was made entirely out of shirts except the thicker outer black border. I used all the solid colored shirts for this one and will make one more top similar to this one.

This next one had been almost done for a while, I just needed to add the piano key border to it. Which I did a couple weeks ago, I just hadn't gotten around to taking a picture of it. It is made entirely of the shirts. Even the off white sashing was a shirt.

I am going to make two tops more with a mixture of solid shirts and stripped shirts, and if I have enough strips left over the final one will be another string quilt.

I am getting excited seeing some actual progress on these tops. Taking apart the shirts and cutting them up into all the shapes I needed has taken awhile so it is fun to see some good progress.

=^..^=

Mini Vacation

2012-01-21T20:17:00.001-05:00

Not much sewing went on this weekend.
We went down to the beach to celebrate my son's 12th birthday.

We spent the night in one of the hotels on the beach and enjoyed all their pools-both indoor and out. The weather was pretty nice for January, it was in the low 60's but the outdoor pool water was freezing! That didn't stop my kids from jumping in though. Their cousin came to swim with us too and they all took turns jumping into the freezing water and then hopping in the hot tub.
They said they want to join the polar bear club.

I only caught toes as my youngest went under but I really like this photo.

We were on the 11th floor and we had a great view of the the 10th floor outdoor pool.

Here all the kids lined up and planned to jump in all at the same time, but three chickened out. They eventually all jumped in one at a time and the then immediately hit the hot tub.

View from our balcony.

Later on we took a walk down the board walk. I am definitely not a professional photographer, but I wanted to try some trick photography. My son is "holding" his siblings in this photo, but I either ended up having him blurry or them blurry, I couldn't seem to get them both in focus at the same time. But it was fun to try and it was something I didn't have to beg the kids to pose for.

It was as super short vacation, but it sure was fun! Definitely a great birthday present enjoyed by all.

=^..^=

FQSQA #9

2012-01-19T14:37:00.002-05:00

Done early this time around. I like this block.

FQSQA #7 & #8

2012-01-16T18:51:00.000-05:00

These are the latest two blocks for the Fat Quarter Star Quilt Along. I really like this first one,

#7

This second one I am not liking so much. To me it just look like a messy arrangement of colors. It is hard for my eye to focus on the star. The block was suppose to have dark fabric squares in the corners but I omitted them hoping to tone down the craziness of the block. Perhaps I didn't pick the right colors for this pattern. I am thinking if I would have stuck with two color families (with a light and dark from each) I would like the block better. I saw one on the flikr group done in shades of black and gray and it looked pretty good. We shall see how it looks combined with all the others at the end. If I am still not happy with it, I may just make a new one in shades of blue and green.

=^..^=

60 Nine Patches

2012-01-13T13:50:00.000-05:00

I finished cutting up all the shirts except the two black ones and one white one. I am not sure what to do with those two yet. Perhaps I can use them for shashing if there is enough. Out of the other 9 shirts I cut a bunch of 3.5 and 4.5 squares. I took the smaller squares and made 60 nine patch blocks. These will make two different quilts. But I can't decide if I want to shash them with either white or black. So I took a photo of them with both backgrounds to get a feel for what each one would look like. Seeing them side by side I am leaning towards the black. But my hubby said he thinks black is too dark so I am still on the fence.

=^..^=

Cutting More Shirts

2012-01-10T14:28:00.000-05:00

I have another pile of shirts to work with today. Last night I pulled the buttons off a few of them and cut the seams off. I have 8 more shirts left to prep. My daughter offered to clip the buttons off the other shirts last night but I told her she better get a good nights rest for her exams.
This afternoon I will take her up on her offer.

This morning I started cutting into the shirts I trimmed up last night. I need 3.5 and 4.5 inch squares to make a couple more quilts for my hubby's Aunt.

=^..^=

Starry Eyed Quilt Top

2012-01-07T15:24:00.000-05:00

Here is the whole quilt top. Each block is 16 inches so this is a nice sized quilt. I wanted the sun shining on the quilt, but I spent too much time this morning and afternoon doing my much neglected house chores and the sun had gotten too high in the sky and the space I normally use for taking my quilts photos was in the shade. So I asked my hubby to hold it up in the front yard for me where the sun was shining.

But I didn't realize how windy it was. It kept making the quilt top wrap around him or flare out.

We ended up laying it in the grass.

While it was on the grass, my hubby said, "I like this one." I actually had to have him repeat what he said because very seldom do our tastes in quilts align and I had to make sure he was talking about the quilt that was laying on the grass in front of us. Then I told him it was a Christmas quilt and he said, "Really?" so I had to show him all the Christmas prints. He said he still liked it. :)

I have to work on another top for someone else before I can progress with this one, but I should be able to baste both of them at the same time. I will keep you posted.

=^..^=

I'm on a roll!

2012-01-06T22:05:00.000-05:00

For my Starry Eyed quilt, each block only needed the outer row sewn on. I finished that up this evening and put the ones that would fit on my temporary design wall. The others were on the ironing board, but they didn't stay there long. I was excited to get this top done so I sewed all the blocks together! I will take a picture of the whole top tomorrow when the sun comes up.

=^..^=

2nd Finish of 2012

2012-01-05T15:30:00.000-05:00

This is a my Le Petite project for December 2010. It is a charm pattern from This and That quilt patterns by Sherri K. Falls and is called Butter Churn.
It is now a finish and next Christmas I can lay it out on the table as a quilt instead of a flimsy.

Funny thing is, when I first started the Le petite projects I was totally against buying precuts. Now, a year later, I LOVE precuts. Oh how wonderful they are. You get a wee bit of the whole fabric line and and all the fabrics play well together. And if you can find them on sale you can get them for the same price as regular yardage. I am definitely sold on precuts and my favorite patterns are the ones that use the entire precut with no scraps left over. So far all the Schnibbles I have made seem to do just that.

=^..^=

Diamond Star Finished

2012-01-04T17:07:00.000-05:00

I finished the binding on my Diamond Star quilt last night. You can see the sun shining through the quilt on the right. I was going to take a picture in the morning, with the sun on the front of the quilt, but it was tooo cold. I am not use to 20 degree weather. So I waited for things to warm up late this afternoon.

This was one of my oldest UFO's. When moving things around to fit the Christmas tree in the front room, I found a notebook that listed some of my projects start dates and goals. This quilt was on the list as being started in April of 2002. I originally started it as a birthday gift, but it wasn't done in time, so it got put on the back burner as other projects took precedence. I think I will wrap it up now so it won't be late this year. :)

I will have another finish tomorrow, I did some quilting today and just have a few more binding stitches left on one of my small table toppers. So far 2012 is off to a good start.

=^..^=

Finishes in 2011

2012-01-02T20:12:00.000-05:00

I orginally wanted to post this collage on Dec 31, but I decided to go out of town on the spur of the moment so my blogging schedule got a little out of whack, so here it is a few days late.

A year of finishes for 2011.

These are all the projects I made from start to finish. 7 of these were part of the Le Petite Challenge that ran from the fall of 2010 to the fall of 2011. 2 of my quilts won ribbons this year- a first for me and I was super excited about that.

I am impressed with myself for accomplishing so much in 2011 and I plan to be just as productive for 2012. I even have a jump start. I just need to add the binding on the Diamond Star quilt that I quilted at Thanksgiving and I will have one finish in the bag.

=^..^=

The Beach in December

2011-12-28T00:35:00.001-05:00

Even though I have a few more projects I want to finish up before the end of the year, there was no quilting done today. With temps in the 60's, it was a perfect evening in to play at the beach. I drove down with the kids to pick up my dogs and decided to stay longer and check out the surf before heading home. The water was cold, and I needed a jacket, but the kids had no trouble playing around on the shore.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T10:01:00.000-05:00

I made a couple other goodies this year for others. The first I want to show off are these cute little candy sleighs. I made some for my nieces and nephews and school teachers. I saw these on the blog Ellyn's Place and just had to make some of my own. They have a great tutorial there. You can see it here.

Next I put together a circle Table Topper for my friend in TN.

I had fun making this one. It was my first ever circle quilt. It is small 26 inches wide. I used the the free pattern from Phillips Fiber Art. It also came on the back of my mini ten degree ruler I bought last month. You can get the pattern here.

I gave my sister and her hubby a basket of goodies that came with all the tools needed to make cake pops. I also made her this spiffy apron to go with it so she could make them in festive style. The apron pattern is a McCalls Pattern. Working on the top neckline reminded me why I prefer making quilts instead of clothes, but I persevered and it turned out great.

Merry Christmas to you all!!

=^..^=

Christmas Quilt

2011-12-24T10:01:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas Eve!
My Christmas quilt has been delivered so now I can show it off.

I had these twelve blocks finished for some time, but never put them together. I had the ideas a few years to turn them into three Christmas table runners, but then a better idea came to mind. When I asked my mom what she wanted for Christmas all she wanted was a hug. At first I told her I didn't know how to wrap a hug. But then I figured if I put all these blocks together into a quilt she could wrap herself up in hugs from me all the time. The idea came to me about two weeks before Christmas so I got busy sewing.

This will be the first year I am not home for Christmas Eve. I will be at the in-laws. So when she is missing me on Chrsitmas Eve she can wrap up in this Christmas Quilt and get a hug from me. :)

=^..^=

FQSQA #5 and #6

2011-12-20T10:31:00.000-05:00

I played a little catch up on my Fat Quarter Star Quilt Along last night.
I was really only one block behind, but since the new block comes out today, this morning I would have been two blocks behind. Now I am right on track.

Now I am off to check out the pattern for block #7.

=^..^=

My First FNSI

2011-12-18T18:54:00.001-05:00

A lot of the blogs I follow participate in Friday Night Sew In. It is fun to watch all the new posts pop up on Saturday that show what everyone accomplished that Friday night. This time I decided to participate and added my name to the roster. My post is a day behind though since I spent most of Saturday with the family.
The project I worked on is a surprise for someone, so you just get a small preview. I got a lot of progress done on it though, half the quilting is now finished.

You can check out all the other Bloggers and see what they did for FNSI here.

Melting Edible Snowmen

2011-12-16T22:58:00.000-05:00

I saw oreo truffle snowmen on Laughs and Crafts 4 Mom and just had to make my own. She posted a great tutorial on how to make them. It was perfect timing too, because I had just been invited to my friend's house for a night of roasting hot dogs and marshmallows by the fire. These roasting snowmen seemed to fit the theme for the night and they were a big hit.

I copied the layout from Laughs and Crafts 4 Mom almost exactly, but I ended up adding a few more snowmen since I knew there were going to be a lot of people around the fire who might enjoy munching on snowmen. While I was making them I did have trouble with one head and smeared the black food coloring around, but I guess you could say he has soot from the fire on his head.

These were really fun to make and I still chuckle when I look at the photo.

=^..^=

Christmas Quilt

2011-12-15T22:40:00.000-05:00

I may actually get this quilt done by Christmas if I can get the cats off it.

I basted some other projects tonight too, but those need to be kept secret just a little bit longer.

=^..^=

Attic Window Block Tutorial

2011-12-14T18:16:00.001-05:00

I write the newsletter for my guild and the chairperson over the BOM asked me to put instructions in the newsletter on how to do set in seams. So I decided to use my own photos and do a mini tutorial for the newsletter. Then I thought it would be good for everyone to have access to larger photos if they need them, so I am putting it here on my blog as well.

The theme for the guild's January 2012 Block of the Month is Attic Windows. There are only a few requirements we must follow this month. We have to have a winter scene in the center, a light blue fabric on the left, and a dark blue fabric on the bottom. Below is my version for the January BOM.

Hello fellow Swamp Fox Quilters and anyone else who is reading along today. :)

First pick out your favorite winter scene and two blue fabrics. One light and one dark.

Fussy Cut a 7.5 inch sqaure from your Winter Scene fabric

Cut one 2.5 in x 10 inch dark blue strip
Cute one 2.5 in x 10 inch light blue strip

To help remember which strip goes where, layout the strips next to the 7.5 inch square with the light blue on the left and the dark blue on the bottom

Place the light blue strip and the winter scenes right sides together.
Place a mark on the blue strip 1/4 in above the bottom of the winter scene.
Sew to that line.

Fold the light blue strip out of the way.

Line up the dark blue strip on the bottom of your winter scene.

Place a mark on the dark blue strip 1/4 inch in from the left edge of the winter scene.

Sew to that line.

After you have sewn both sides, fold the block in half diagonally making sure the blue fabrics line up with each other. Using a long enough ruler, line up the diagonal edge and extend it over the blue strips.
Mark a line on the blue fabric. I flipped the block over so I could mark on the light blue fabric since it was easier to see.

Sew on that line.

Trim off the excess.

To avoid bulky seams, press the seams in opposite directions from each other and flare out the center where all three fabrics come together. Press.

You should end up with a 9.5 inch attic window block.

And if you don't win the all the blocks from the BOM you can make 12 more and have enough to make a small quilt of your own. :)

=^..^=

Fabric Christmas Ornament

2011-12-07T11:26:00.001-05:00

Tonight I am teaching the girls at church to make fabric Ornaments.
I only have an hour to teach them so I made up little kits for them to help save on time.

I bought one yard of light blue snowflake fabric which was enough main fabric for 9 ornaments.

The white and the dark blue came from my stash. I ran out of white though so I cut up some red and green fabrics for the last three sets.

I made a sample out of the green and red for the girls to see,
but I can't wait to see how the blue and white ones will turn out.

I used the tutorial from Crafter Without a Cat.

=^..^=

SFQ December BOM

2011-12-01T22:46:00.001-05:00

This is the block I turned for the Swamp Fox Quilters Block of the Month today. For the December block we could use any pattern and fabrics as long as there was a tree in the block somewhere. It could be pieced, applique'd or in the fabric itself. I sewed mine together before the meeting this morning. It was quite easy since I was still in a wonky star mode from my Starry Eyed star blocks.

These are all the blocks that were turned in. Unfortunately they didn't pick my name to take them all home.

But there is always next month! Next month is an Attic windows block. That will be something new for me. I have never made one of those.

Sewing Progress over Thanksgiving Week

2011-11-30T16:57:00.001-05:00

At first I didn't think I had gotten much sewing done this past week and a half. I felt like I spent more time cleaning the house and getting ready to host Thanksgiving instead of sitting at the sewing machine. But once I sat down and looked at everything I had made, I realized I got quite a bit done during my little bursts of sewing.

First, I finished the star blocks for this Citizen Sam quilt. Then I basted, quilted, and bound it.
It is ready to be turned in.

For the back I pieced together all the star fabrics I had left.

The second project I worked on was my Starry Eyed Quilt. I got all 10 star blocks pieced.

I even sewed left overs together into quarter triangle blocks. They are a little wonky, but they look wonderful to me. I am already thinking of a small quilt to turn them into.

Last I got my Diamond Star quilt quilted. It still needs a binding put on. When I get that done I will show the whole thing. It would be on already, but I can't find the blue fabric I want for the binding. I must have used it in another project. I suppose that is what happens when quilt tops sit 10 years before you quilt them. Now I have to go shopping for something that matches, but I am ok with that. :)

=^..^=

Weekend Progress

2011-11-21T01:03:00.001-05:00

Friday Night I cut out my Countdown to Christmas fabric for my Starry Eyed Quilt.

Saturday I spent most of the day at the Roller Rink with the kids, so I didn't get much sewing done.

On Sunday, after sleeping most of the day away trying to get rid of a cold, I pulled out all the quilt tops I had and picked two of my oldest ones and basted them. The first one was this log cabin top. I had started hand quilting it in 2006 on an old fashion quilt frame, the kind that is meant for lots of women to sit around and help quilt. But every time I would leave the room my cat kept using it as a hammock and I found myself having to re-adjust the quilt too many times, so I took it off the frame with the intention of basting it with pins and quilting it without the frame. Not sure what took me so long to get it back out. Honestly, I didn't think it had been sitting that long. It wasn't till I dug up the old picture of it on the frame that I realized it has been 5 years since I worked on it. Wow, time sure does fly.

This next quilt top I basted is older than the log cabin. I can't even remember how old it is. I know I started it before I moved into my house, I even want to say that the whole top was finished before I moved in 8 years ago. The block is a pattern I used from Quilters Cache and is called Diamond Star. I even used her layout at the end of her instructions. I used a new basting method for this one. I tried out the table basting with boards that I saw on Doodle Quilts blog. It took me longer than normal but only because it was a new process for me. I will see how the quilting goes and if this method is good at keeping the tucks out of the back while quilting. I sure hope so, because it sure beats crawling around on the floor to pin baste.

These two tops are some of my oldest UFO's and it is nice to be able to throw them in the rotation of current projects. Not sure how much crafting I will get done this week though. I have to spend most of the time getting the house ready for Thanksgiving. It is my year to host. :) Perhaps I can squeeze a in few 15 minute sewing intervals time to time throughout the day though and get a little progress done on some of my projects.

=^..^=

Progress on a couple things

2011-11-18T15:08:00.001-05:00

I put the last border on this top last night. The pattern is Lithia Park by Bloom Creek and the fabric and pattern came in a kit from Connecting Threads. I received the kit as a Christmas Present two years ago from my Mom. All the flower petals and leaves are English paper pieced and then appliqued on the background. This top came together slowly but surely. I did most of the handwork on Monday and Tuesday nights while I watched TV. A couple weeks ago I hand stitched down the last flower center. Since I had already cut out all the sashing and border pieces the rest of the top went together in no time.

I also worked on a new project - what can I say, there are so many fun patterns and fabrics to play with I want to make them all. - The fabric for this quilt was one of the Layer Cakes that Carrie so graciously sent out to all the ladies who had participated in one of the monthly the Le Petite projects. It is Patisserie by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda. I am using the Sun Kissed Jewel Box pattern from Moda Bake shop.

And this afternoon I started cutting out my white fabric for the Starry Eyed quilt I want to make. When I get more of that cut out I will post a picture. Now back to the cutting table. :)

=^..^=

FQSQA Block #4

2011-11-16T10:30:00.000-05:00

Here is my version of block #4 for the Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along.

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Men's Shirts String Quilt

2011-11-12T12:33:00.001-05:00

Last night I decided to spend a little more time on my husband's Aunt's quilts.

I had been trying to make at couple blocks a week, but last night I went ahead and finished up the last 8 blocks for this top and even got some of the rows sewed together.

I have two more seams and then this part of the top will be finished. Then it will just need borders.

=^..^=

T-shirt quilt Completed

2011-11-11T17:13:00.000-05:00

I finished the quilting on the T-shirt quilt I am working on yesterday and put the binding on this morning.

I love the border made out of rectangles from all the shirts.

I added the small chest logos into the quilt as well.
One of the logos was on a pocket though and I didn't know how to cut it out without loosing part of the image in a seam allowance, so I put the whole pocket on there.
The 5th shirt didn't have a chest logo, but it did have a pocket which I saved for the back label.

The owner will come pick it up next week.

=^..^=

T-Shirt Quilt

2011-11-10T11:00:00.000-05:00

This is a the T-Shirt quilt I have been working on.

It is a smaller T-Shirt quilt. Only 5 shirts.

It measures about 45 by 56.

I finished the top and basted it last night.

Today I will work on quilting it.

=^..^=

Slide Show Quilt Top

2011-11-09T16:35:00.000-05:00

So... I was suppose to be working on a T-shirt quilt for a customer today, but I didn't have enough interfacing for what I wanted to do with the shirts.

Before heading to the store for more interfacing, I decided to to sew a few strips on the Slide Show top I am also working on. Well, needless to say I got a little carried away and finished most of the top.

Now I get to go shopping for a border for this top as well as interfacing. Yay!

I love having a reason to go to the fabric store.

=^..^=

2011-11-08T12:17:00.000-05:00

Here is my latest Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along block.
I finished this one just in time for the next one to be announced.

Even though it has bits of blue in it, I am not sure I am feeling the orange fabric in this one.
Hopefully as I add bits of orange to other blocks it will blend a little better.

=^..^=

Some of This and Some of That...

2011-11-07T13:34:00.000-05:00

I had sort of an eclectic sewing day yesterday. I worked a few different projects.

First I cut out and sewed a little on the kit I won from Dewberry Lane a couple months ago. She sent me 11 fat quarters and and pattern by Atkinson Designs called Slide Show.

Next I cut up the fat quarters my friend sent me. I am going to use the Bear Paw quilt block for these. I think I may call these Cat Paws though. :) I didn't get to sew on these though because I didn't have the right background fabric so I moved on to a different project.

Next I cut strips and sewed them together for the Citizen Sam quilt I am working on. My neighbor saw the last one I worked on and she wanted to be a part of this next one. She doesn't quilt, but she generously donated funds for the fabric for this one.

That is pretty good for one day I would say.

=^..^=

Quilted Brocante

2011-11-06T15:56:00.000-05:00

I finished this quilt over the weekend. It was the Schnibbles pattern introduced in April of this year as part of the Le Petite Project group. I finished my top in time for the parade that month, but I didn't get time to quilt it till this weekend.

I used some old fabrics I had in my stash for this quilt. The black is a Mary Englebreit fabric, which I also used for the back, and the solid centers were left over fabrics that I originally bought for a quilt I made in 2007. I obviously bought more fabric than I needed for the the little quilt below. But that is OK, it gave me extra to use in my new Brocante quilt.

This quilt is so bright and doesn't match any room in the house. But it sure was fun to put to together.

I have three more Le Petite projects to quilt then I will have all 12 projects totally complete.

=^..^=

Flower Block Sampler Quilt

2011-11-05T12:41:00.000-04:00

This is the last customer quilt I worked on in October.
I love the colors in this one. Again I did some custom quilting in each of the blocks.

=^..^=

Yellow Blue Green Sampler Quilt

2011-11-04T15:38:00.000-04:00

This is another client quilt. I really love this one. The fabrics are almost solid and they all work well together. I did some customer quilting for each block and then played around with something different for each border.

=^..^=

Appliqued Circles Quilt

2011-11-03T20:33:00.000-04:00

This is another customer quilt I worked on this month.
I had a good time working with this one.

After contemplating what to quilt around the appliqued circles, I finally came up with some flower petals.

I did a little different type of feather in the borders.
Same technique of regular feathers, just an extra bump in the feather on the edges.
They are kind of hard to see in the busy print fabric, but they were fun to do.

=^..^=

Purple Scrapy Quilt

2011-11-02T11:30:00.000-04:00

This quilt belongs to another guild mate of mine.
I finished quilting it the other day and will deliver it on Thursday during our next guild meeting.

In the center of the quilt and the outer border I quilted an all over flowery swirl pattern.
For the inner purple border I did a simple swirl all the way around.

I have had a busy sewing month this October.
I also have three more customer quilts to turn in at guild meeting this Thursday.
I will post photos of those throughout the week.

=^..^=

Final Le Petite Parade

2011-11-01T09:00:00.000-04:00

Sinta and Sherri asked that we do a post of all the Le Projects we completed this year. I was able to complete the all 12. Well almost complete, there are 4 that still need quilting. Here they are in the order they were announced.

Paganinni

Butter Churn - This one still needs quilting. It is basted though.

Prairie Point Christmas

Mon Ami

Sweet Spot

Endless Summer

Brocante - This one still needs quilting. It is basted though.

Candy Bar Pinwheels

This particular month we had a choice of Ric Rac or Recess. I choose Ric Rac.

This one still needs to be basted and quilted.

George

Honeycomb

Spot - This one needs basting and quilting too.

I really enjoyed making all these. I was a little apprehensive about some of the patterns, but once I got started and picked out some of my favorite fabrics I fell in love with each pattern. I can't wait to see what Sheri and Sinta have cooked up for us next year!!

=^..^=

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T17:00:00.000-04:00

I used some of my left over Halloween fabric scraps and made some simple Halloween Fabric postcards.

I started out with some orange yarn that I trimmed. I also zig zagged the yarn to the edge for this one.

Then I decided to not trim it and leave it "hairy".

Then I wanted to test the same design with ric-rac. It think I like the yarn better.

Perhaps because the ric rac isn't the right shade of orange.

Here is another with the yarn

This one makes me think the pumpkins are behind bars.

Hope your Halloween is Spooky... but not too spooky....

=^..^=

Drawings

2011-10-30T22:05:00.000-04:00

I haven't had a chance to add color to my beach scene, but I want to go ahead and post it.

It has been done for a couple weeks now.

I have also been working on another sketch. This one is almost finished.

=^..^=

Halloween Costumes

2011-10-28T21:43:00.002-04:00

There hasn't been much quilting going on this week. Mainly because it is costume making season!Each year my hubby's work sponsors a Halloween party for all the kids and each year we love going and dressing up. This year my boys went as Edward Scissorhands, Cousin Itt, and a Statue on a Pedestal. My daughter had a hard time deciding what to be this year but finally decided to dress up as a Cowgirl.

All four together. Usually I end up making all the costumes, but this year I put the kids to work. Cousin Itt did most of his costume himself. I barely had to help at all and I put the other two boys to work cutting and spray painting. They all had a good time and enjoyed being able to say they helped make their own costumes.

Edward at the Party, He won one of the prizes for his category. They gave out prizes for the best three costumes in each age group. His was in the the 6 to 8 group.

All four at the party.

Bag for Jay

2011-10-26T22:49:00.000-04:00

I have been watching a cute eight and half month old baby the past couple weeks, and his mom had been bringing me his food every morning in a plastic Wal-Mart bag, so I sewed him a cuter one during his nap time the other day. I used two fat quarters for this - the kites and a bright yellow. I didn't use a pattern, I just cut some rectangles and sewed it up. It isn't very large, just big enough to hold a couple of jars of baby food and a small thermos of water.

I love the cheerful kites and the bright yellow.

It makes me happy every time I look at this bag.

=^..^=

First Place Award!!

2011-10-19T20:49:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago I drove to Columbia, SC and hand delivered my quilt and entered it in the state fair. It was the first time I have entered anything in the state fair and really didn't think it would do well, it being my first time and all. I was satisfied with being able to say "I have a quilt on display at the state fair." Well to my surprise, I got 1rst place!! I was soooo excited when I heard the news!
Below is the quilt I entered.

This is a photo I took and I blogged about it here.

Here it is on display at the SC State Fair

I tried to take photos of some of the other quilts, but I didn't get very many. My kids kept rushing me out of the craft building. For some reason they thought riding rides was more fun than looking at quilts or all the other wonderful craft items in that huge room.

Now seriously... do these rides look more fun than staring at quilts?

The kids had so much fun that they kept riding rides even when it started to rain.

According to the kids, three and a half hours of riding rides in the rain is

definitely more fun than staring at quilts. :)

=^..^=

Fall Panels

2011-10-15T14:42:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I basted 3 fall themed panels. I was hoping to have them all finished by the end of this week but I was also babysitting an 8 month old all week and I forgot how much doesn't get done when babies are around-housework, fancy dinners, quilting etc. I did manage to finish up one panel during nap times though. But the other two will have to wait since I get to watch the baby again next week and I have some client quilts that need to get done which will be on the schedule for nap time next week.

Here are some better views of the quilting.

Below are the other two panels waiting their turn.

While watching the little one this week, there were a couple days where he wanted me to be right next to him on the floor while he plays. He has 4 teeth coming in up top and was extra clingy. So if I left the room even for a second to grab something real quick he would cry. So I decided to stay near him on the floor all day and spent that time basting two big client quilts. These are the ones I will work on next week.

=^..^=

Quilt for Citizen Sam

2011-10-13T20:33:00.000-04:00

I finished this quilt on Sunday. Since I have been quilting a lot for others lately, I make sure Sunday sewing is reserved for my own personal projects or for service quilts. This one falls under the service quilt category.

I wanted to post about it sooner but it has been raining most of the week so I wasn't able to go outside and take a picture of it till today. Today was the first sunny day we have had all week.

This quilt is going to the Citizen Sam project. I didn't make the top for this, I only did the quilting and the binding. A guild mate of mine showed off six completed Citizen Sam tops during our August guild meeting and asked for volunteers to help her get them all quilted. I told her I would take one and she gave me this top and the backing to go with it. The guild provided the batting. They have a big roll they use specifically for our service project quilts.

The quilting on this one went pretty quick. I did a general meander down the rail blocks, and for the stars and stripes rows I did a star and swirl meander.

I had the perfect blue and white star fabric for the binding in my stash.

I will turn this quilt in at our next guild meeting in November.

=^..^=

Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along Block 2

2011-10-12T11:12:00.000-04:00

My finished Block 2 of the Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along.

=^..^=

Friendship Star Table Runner

2011-10-08T18:47:00.000-04:00

I first saw this pattern on Sew We Quilt. It was by guest blogger Shell May of The Raspberry Rabbits. I book marked the post because I wanted to make it. Time passed and I figured it would probably never get made becuase I just have too many other projects. But then Shell reposted the tutorial on her blog the other day and I thought, I really like this and I am going to make this now. So I picked out some Christmasy fabrics and got started. It went together pretty fast and I was finishing up the hand stitching on the binding Friday morning. I will have to wait a couple months before I can put it out though. Right now my Halloween Table Runner is on my coffee table. But Christmas will be here in a blink of an eye for sure!

=^..^=

Bird House Quilt

2011-10-07T21:36:00.000-04:00

My newest finish was a quit top created by one of my guild members who recently passed away. Her family received four tops of hers that they wanted to have completed and this was one of them, the Bargello I previously posted about was another and I have two more waiting their turn under the machine.

You can see the quilting a little better from the back side. The fabric is all one color, so the difference in color must be some shading coming from the window.

=^..^=

October Guild Block

2011-10-06T20:27:00.000-04:00

My guild has started up their Block of the Month Program again. They started it in August so this is the third month they have had it. I missed the August block, and forgot to take a photo of my September block, but I remembered to get a quick shot of my October block this morning before I left for the meeting.

The theme for October was any block pattern as long as you used Black, Orange, and One other color.

I picked purple for my other color. Below are all the blocks that were turned in.

Unfortunately they didn't pick my name in the drawing so I didn't get to take all these beauties home.
But it was still fun to see all the different blocks, and I can't wait to see what the winner does with them.

Purple Quilt Finished

2011-10-05T15:15:00.000-04:00

My cat finally got off my purple quilt and I was able to finish it up. :)

Actually I quilted a little bit on it every day over the past two weeks. I have spent most of my craft time quilting for others lately, but I always make sure to set aside a few minutes each day (sometimes only 15) to work on something of my own. Thanks to those spurts of time set aside I now have a finish of my own.

I wasn't sure what to put in the big purple border squares so I decided to go with feathers.

You can never go wrong with feathers right?

In the purple diamonds between the nine patches I tried one of Leah Day's Free Motion Designs called Feathered Hearts. You can see them pretty good from the back of the quilt. They are a little more dense than the rest of the quilt, but they were fun to do and great practice.

I have a couple more client quilts and a Citizen Sam quilt waiting there turn on the machine so I will better back to those.

=^..^=

FQQA #1

2011-10-04T15:25:00.000-04:00

Here is my first block for the Fat Quarter Quilt Along.

Now I have to wait a whole week to find out the next pattern... oh the anticipation...

=^..^=

A Bargello

2011-10-03T11:00:00.000-04:00

I finished the quilting on another client quilt over the weekend.

It was about to rain when I took these first two photos, so I moved to the front porch.

My quilt holder wasn't home, so I had to use the railing.

=^..^=

Cross Stitch Update - Feline Love

2011-10-02T20:24:00.002-04:00

Progress is still being made on my little cross stitch project.

Not as much as in the beginning, but things are still moving along quite nicely.

Current Stitches

Stitches since last update.

=^..^=

Last of the Le Petites

2011-10-01T11:44:00.023-04:00

For this last month of the Le Petite Challenge we were allowed to choose any Schnibble pattern we wanted for the Le Petite Challenge. I chose one of the new ones titled "Spot". I decided I needed a new Christmas quilt. So I bought the Countdown to Christmas fabric by moda and made the Larger version of "Spot" I am really loving the touch of black thrown in with the Christmas colors. I want to get some yardage of the black polk-a-dot fabric for the binding. Or maybe the Green polk-a dot fabric. Or perhaps the black and red strip like the Starry Eyed quilt found at moda bake shop. I really like that quilt. I am contemplating getting more Countdown to Christmas just to make that one. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can't believe a whole year has gone by since I joined up to make all these small projects.
I participated each month and got 8 out of the 12 quilted.
2 are basted waiting their turn under the machine, 2 are still tops.
Below are all the quilts I made for this challenge.

Paginni A Schnibbles Pattern ~~~~~	Butter Churn pattern by This and That ~~~~~	Prairie Point Christmas Moda Bake Shop ~~~~~
Mon Ami A Schnibbles Pattern ~~~~~	Sweet Spot A Schnibbles Pattern ~~~~~	Endless Summer A Schnibbles Pattern ~~~~~
Brocante A Schnibbles Pattern ~~~~~	Candy Bar Pinwheels Moda Bake Shop ~~~~~	Ric Rac A Schnibbles Pattern ~~~~~
George A Schnibbles Pattern	Honey Comb A Schnibbles Pattern	Spot A Schnibbles Pattern

=^..^=

Finito!

2011-09-30T13:44:00.000-04:00

I have finished the quilting on my guild mate's king size quilt. She mentioned to me that she wanted straight line quilting similar to that which is on the cover of the book "Nearly Insane" by Liz Lois.

I love all the different blocks in this quilt and all the different colors. It is a fun quilt to look at.

It is also very heavy. It has wool batting and heavy flannel on the back.

This will be a great bed quilt for winter.

After quilting this biggie, you'd think I would take a break, but nope
I already have another quilt on the machine. :)

=^..^=

Quilting A King

2011-09-28T18:53:00.002-04:00

A lot of people ask me how I quilt a king size quilt on my home machine, so I thought I would show you all. This photo was taken near the center of the king size quilt I am currently working on. I push the whole thing through as I go. Sometimes it is a tight fit, but I can always maneuver it enough to get a smooth quilting section near the needle. There is really only a small section that is super tight and as you quilt there is less and less going under the machine so each row gets easier. In these tight sections, I find that I spend more time shifting the quilt around instead of quilting. But if you go slow and shift to get a smooth quilting surface then you won't have any puckers on the back. Another important thing to remember is to have somewhere for the left side of the quilt to sit. Otherwise it hangs and the weight of it pulls the needle and either breaks it or curves the stitching. I quilt next to my computer desk and use it as an overflow to catch large quilts such as this one.

Ok, break time is over for me. I better get back to quilting.
I have this one scheduled to be completed by the end of the week.

=^..^=

Next on The Machine

2011-09-26T10:58:00.005-04:00

This top was made by another guild mate of mine. It's a biggie.

I basted it last week. Quilting on it starts today.

=^..^=

Baby Panel

2011-09-25T22:52:00.000-04:00

I quilted this panel for a guild mate of mine. I had a good time playing around with this one. My favorite is the lamb. I love to rub my hands over him and feel the texture.

=^..^=

Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along

2011-09-21T12:42:00.011-04:00

I am participating in the Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along and have picked out my 16 fat quarters.

Block instructions start on the 27 and will be announced every other Tuesday.

Hopefully I can keep on track with this one. :)

I had a hard time getting this photo without cat legs in the picture.

Below you can see why.

The curtains pulled up and a nice pile of fabric were too hard for Sheen to resist.

=^..^=

3 Quilts Basted

2011-09-20T10:09:00.000-04:00

This weekend I didn't have my internet connection. I was busy for most of the weekend, so I didn't miss it for much of the day, but in the evening when I read the quilting blogs, play games, and catch up on my shows I really started going through withdrawals. After staring at my monitor for about and hour willing the internet to work, I decided I better do something else. I have a nice to do list of quilt related items that need to get done, and one would think this was the perfect time to get those done, but instead I decided to do work on quilts not even on the list. They don't have deadlines and they aren't for other people, I pulled three tops from my UFO pile and decided it was time to play with them for awhile. I was going to baste all the quilts on the pile, there are 4 more, but I remembered I needed to save my pins for a customer quilt that I need to work on this week. So I stopped at three.

The first was my Le Petite project from last November - Butter Churn Shcnibbles. I used Christmas fabrics for mine and displayed it during the holidays last year just as a top. This year I want it to be a finished quilt when I put it on the coffee table.

Next was my Brocante top, which was also part of the Le Petite project. I picked this one to baste because it fit perfect with a leftover piece of batting I had.

The last one I basted was my two tone purple quilt. I started this quilt at the end of 2009 and finished the top in the summer of 2010.

After basting, I started quilting the purple one. I was on a roll and making great progress till I had to get up and help one of the kids with something. When I came back, Jasper had decided I needed a longer break and took up residence right on my quilt.

I left him to his nap.

=^..^=

Spot

2011-09-16T19:48:00.000-04:00

I spent what little time I had this week for crafting working on my Le Petite for this month. September is the last month in this year long program and we were able to pick out any shnibbles pattern we wanted.

I picked one the the newest Schnibbles called "Spot". I am using the Moda Countdown to Christmas charm squares by Sweetwater.

I have a few more red and white strips to cut out and then I can sew up the rest of the spot blocks.

=^..^=

Feline Love Update

2011-09-10T21:37:00.000-04:00

I had a few 30 min trips to town this week and two trips to the beach. Since I wasn't driving I worked on my Feline Love cross stitch. I also had two dentist appointments for the kids this week and that gave me even more time to work on it. With all that waiting, I got quite a bit done.

This Weeks Progress

Last Week

=^..^=

Honeycomb Quilt Finished

2011-09-08T17:04:00.000-04:00

I finished the quilting and the binding on my extended Honeycomb quilt today.
This was the first time I have done a scrappy binding. I really like how it turned out.

When I look at the quilting on the back it looks like a totally different quilting pattern.

=^..^=

Marsh Drawing

2011-09-04T20:35:00.005-04:00

I finished adding color to my Marsh drawing this evening.
Our excursion at the marsh this summer was the inspiration for this drawing. The water at the marsh isn't really this blue, but I wanted it that way so I colored it that way.

This is one of the pictures I used as a base for my drawing.

It is the marsh in Murrells Inlet, SC and not too far beyond those trees is the ocean.

This is what the drawing looked like as I started to add color.

And below is the drawing in progress.
I was trying to scan it during different stages to see my progress.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This next picture is the drawing I started today. I was fiddling around not knowing what scene to draw when this one took shape so there are some rough lines and mistakes in this one. Hopefully I can smooth things out and turn the mistakes into something else. If not I will still keep it on hand for reference. I like some of the new lines I put together in this one.

=^..^=

Honeycomb Extended

2011-09-03T14:08:00.000-04:00

I took my Honeycomb table topper and added more rows to it last night. The pattern had rows of 8 across 10 down, but I ended up making mine 10 across and 16 down. Which is double the hexagons and makes the quilt the perfect size for snuggling.

Next on the list is to quilt it. Last night I printed out some pictures of the top and drew some quilting ideas on it. I came up with an idea that got me so excited to quilt it that I was ready to baste and get started on the quilting at 11:45pm. Unfortunately I didn't have any white batting, so I had to hold off on the quilting, which was probably a good idea because I also needed some sleep.

But now that I am rested and the laundry is done, I am off to JoAnn's to get some Warm and White. Thank goodness for 40% off coupons. :)

Oh, and did you know that irons can iron clothes? I was shocked that mine knew how to do that seeing how it has only ironed quilts in the past 6 months. ;)
My hubbies shirts are finally happy to have nice straight collars and smooth button plackets.

=^..^=

Feline Love Cross Stitch

2011-09-02T15:24:00.000-04:00

I spent a few minutes this afternoon working on my "Feline Love" cross stitch kit that my good friend gave me. I got two window panes outlined and part of the orange kitty done. It doesn't look like too much right now, but pretty soon items will take shape. I think it will be fun to watch the progress I make on this project through photos.

=^..^=

Le Petite for September - Honeycomb

2011-09-01T01:04:00.000-04:00

I have made a slightly smaller yet wider version of this month's pattern. My initial thought was to make it just the right size to fit on my coffee table, but after playing around with these little hexagons, I think I may turn this into an even bigger lap quilt. I think it would be more fun to snuggle under this one instead of putting it on the coffee table. I have some extra 5inch charm squares left over that would make this the perfect size. I think I will take off the white borders and add more hexagons later on this week.

=^..^=

Pets On Quilts - 2011

2011-08-16T21:33:00.001-04:00

SewCalGal is holding a virtual "Pets on Quilts" Show for 2011. Anyone can enter photos for the show. To enter a photo and see the rules click here.

Now on to my entry...

This is my lovely cat Sheen..At first glance he appears quite content watching me quilt but then...

He gets distracted by the shinny pins and tries to eat them....

In his effort to get at the safety pins, he becomes an extreme sewing obstacle.

After giving up on trying to get the pins I thought he would get up and go about his business.

But his business appears to be getting comfortable on my quilt and sewing machine...

and taking a nap. Needless to say, I was done quilting for the rest of the afternoon.

=^..^=

Back To My String Blocks

2011-08-09T11:52:00.002-04:00

I had some time to work on the string blocks for the quilt I am making for my husband's Aunt.

With 12 blocks complete I am halfway finished.

With the pieces I had leftover from trimming the above blocks, I fiddled around with some crumb blocks. Hmm, I think I may be a little obsessive with the crumbs. These blocks measure 4.5in square and the block on the right has 36 pieces in it...

But, if I have enough crumbs left over to make 61 more of these then I can make a quilt like Natasha made here.

=^..^=

Quilting Finished for Tish

2011-08-02T14:26:00.001-04:00

Here is my latest client quilting project. The quilt top was made by Tish from my quilt guild. Tish said I could do what ever I wanted with it so I decided to do some simple custom quilting in each individual block. I enjoy quilting around the lines of the quilt shapes and coming up with individual quilting designs for each block. I find it mentally easier than doing an all over meander and it is a more entertaining process for me. I did do a meander for the border though, I can handle meandering small sections. :)

A close up of some of the individual blocks.

A tad bit closer. :)

Tish asked me to go ahead and sew on the biding so she can hand stitch it down herself.
That is why the binding is unfinished in the photos.

=^..^=

Le Petite for July - George

2011-08-01T19:39:00.000-04:00

Top Finished, Quilted, and Bound this time around. Yay! I love it when I have time to do the Le Petite project for the month from start to finish. Usually I only have time to make the top.

I used two "Canning Day" Charm packs from Connecting Threads for this cutie and then some yardage from my stash for the sashing and yellow border.

I really enjoy quilting feathers. They are all freehand since I really don't enjoy marking them.

For each individual center block I used a pre-printed design on tear away paper. I got the papers years ago off eBay for a great deal, but never ended up having a quilt with blocks small enough to use them till now. They are wonderful. I think I will plan more quilts with these size blocks so I can use up the rest of the papers.

I see a lot of quilts rolled up like this on other blogs and I like the look of them, so here is my version. :)

Can you have too many pictures of the same quilt???

=^..^=

From This....

2011-07-27T16:58:00.001-04:00

To This....

Today I finished zig zagging the smaller one and glued the swirly part on the big one.

Is it too early to put out fall decorations?

The two bowls combined are made up of 100 yards of cotton clothesline.
My Daughter wrapped all the clothesline for me while she watched TV.

Below is the fabric we used for both bowls. I got a lot of it a couple years ago for about $1 a yard so I didn't mind cutting some of it up for these bowls. It has all my favorite fall colors in it and I was anxious to see how it would look in these bowls.

=^..^=

Newest Drawing

2011-07-24T21:02:00.000-04:00

I finished the coloring on this drawing today.

This next one is a work in progress. My recent trip to the marsh inspired this one.

I need to find myself a nice portfolio that is small enough to hold all my drawings.
They are all 8in x 6in and right now they are stuck in the back of my notebook.

I want to be able to flip through them all like an album.

=^..^=

Found My Machine

2011-07-23T11:13:00.001-04:00

After a busy summer spent on the road visiting relatives and playing at the beach I have finally returned home long enough to play around on my machine again. First thing on the list, finish up some client quilts and a donation quilt.

This first quilt wasn't made entirely by me. A guild member donated the top and backing to the guild and asked if someone would quilt it and I volunteered. One of our members is from Japan and she has set up a project to have a bunch of needed quilts sent to Japan in the middle of August. So this is my contribution to that cause. I was going to just meander all over it, but for some reason the quilt just wouldn't let me do that. It begged me to do something different ;) So I did some free hand quilting in each block. It was really fun coming up with ideas for each block.

This next one is a quilt made by one of my guild mates. She hand embroidered all the flower blocks and paired them with some nice batiks. First I did an echo stitch around all the flowers, then I did some swirl meandering around each one. My guild mate doesn't like dense heavy quilting. She likes the quilt to feel more soft and fluffy. So for the rest of the quilt I did a loose meander all over. Then I trimmed the batting edges so all that she needs to do now is add the binding.

Next on my quilting to do list is to finish up another quilt for this same client. It is already basted and ready for quilting. After that I need to add a sleeve on one of the quilts I made for my neighbor in December. They want to be able to hang it on the wall instead of drape it over the couch as they first envisioned. That should keep me busy the next few days.

=^..^=

Cotton Dishcloths

2011-07-21T19:07:00.002-04:00

On my travels this summer I took my yarn with me. Lots of driving time and relaxing at relatives gave me plenty of time to finish up this set of dishcloths and hot pad.
These are all free patterns I found on the internet.

Janelle's Star Dishcloth

Double Bump Dishcloth

Starburst Hot Pad

Ball Band Dishcloth

Crochet Flower Dishcloth

Not much Sewing going on

2011-07-06T16:51:00.001-04:00

There hasn't been too much sewing going on around here lately mainly because the kids and I have been have been traveling. But today I did manage to make some pickles from cucumbers that came from my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's garden. I added a couple of cucumbers from my own garden, but I didn't have nearly as many as I got from my BIL last night.

The kids and I have really been enjoying the summer. We spent half a week in NC visiting in-laws, then we spent a week at the beach last week. We came home for a day and then went back to the beach for the 4th and tomorrow we hit the road again and will be gone for a long weekend. Seems like the days in between trips are spent getting laundry ready for the next trip and other odds and ends that need to get done around here. That doesn't leave much time for crafting, but it's summer!! Time for other kinds of playing. :)

=^..^=

Finished my June top for Le Petite Challenge

2011-06-28T10:13:00.000-04:00

Just in time for me to head to the beach for the rest of the week.

=^..^=

Ric Rac Triangles Cut Out

2011-06-23T14:06:00.000-04:00

We were offered a choice between 2 different patterns for the June LePetite Challenge.

I have chosen to do the Schnibbles Ric Rac pattern.
It needs 294 triangles. I cut them out last night.

Table Setting Finished

2011-06-14T15:12:00.000-04:00

The table topper was done this Saturday, and the 4 place mats got finished this morning.

I am one day behind my schedule. I wanted to have these in the mail yesterday, but we had a bad storm come through and the power kept flickering, so I turned off my sewing machine. It is plugged into a spiffy power supply, but since the machine costs more than I can afford to replace right now, I decided to not risk it getting fried and turned it off.

But with priority mail, these should still arrive in TN in plenty of time.

These will be going on a white table, and will look way better on that than my wrinkly blue table cloth.

I have an iron, but since I have no plans of quilting the table cloth, it gets to stay wrinkled.

Besides, with 4 kids and one husband, the table cloth wont stay clean long and will end up back in the wash in a day or too.

=^..^=

Jungle Animal's Done

2011-06-11T10:58:00.002-04:00

Yay for Netflix and a Glee marathon. I finished up this baby panel last night while the Glee kids sang to me. :)

I put the binding on this morning and snapped it's picture.

I had a lot of fun quilting this. I outlined the animals and leaves, then did some meandering quilting, some cobblestone quilting, and finished it up with squiggly lines in the sky. For the border, I went around all the brown giraffe spots.

Panels are great to work with when you want to try new quilting techniques or perfect your old ones. I always enjoy quilting panels, it gets my creative quilting juices flowing.

Next on the quilting schedule is to finish the table topper and place mats.
Then come Monday I can ship them and this baby quilt to their new home in TN.

(and now I have the "Come Monday" song by Jimmy Buffet running around in my head)

=^..^=

Table Set

2011-06-10T16:44:00.000-04:00

Wow, I haven't been doing much sewing around here since the end of May. I thought with school ending I would have more time to play around with my fabric, but things keep popping up and I am finding myself more and more away from the sewing machine. I had some pretty ambitious sewing goals for these past 10 days, but only one got accomplished and even then I felt like I was snatching minutes every couple days. But I am happy to report that I did finish the tops for this table set. I also got the batting trimmed, so all I need to do is cut the backing and baste them together.

So far my calendar is empty for the next couple of days, so I am planning to finish these by this weekend.

The table topper measures 23 in square and the 4 place mats are 13 x 19.

While I was cutting out batting for the place mats and table topper, I also trimmed up a piece for this cute baby panel that my friend sent to me. It is for her niece's new baby. This panel is super cute and I am excited to do some free hand quilting all over it. I even got it basted. Since it was small enough to fit on the table, I was able to jump right in and start. Normally for larger quilts I have to move furniture, sweep, and scrub the floor before I can even start basting. And it sure was nice to be able to sit at the table, instead of crawling around on the floor while basting. :)

=^..^=

"Label it Nine Patch" by Tish

2011-06-03T17:27:00.030-04:00

This is the quilt I mentioned in April but wasn't able to show a photo of till now. The quilt was made by Tish and she asked me to quilt it for her. She had been collecting unique and fancy labels from clothing and sewed them all onto this quilt. She has labels mixed in her 9 patches and the border is full of labels. I stitched around each individual label in the border and then in the ditch of all the squares. It is really a fun unique quilt. You could stand for a long time examining all the different labels in this quilt. Some are very colorful and are tiny works of art all on their own.

I won a Ribbon!!

2011-06-02T16:14:00.003-04:00

I won a red ribbon for "Best Use of Theme" at my guilds Quilt Challenge Show! The theme this year was "9 Patch". For my entry I finished up the 9 patch quilt from the quilt along I started over at Amanda Jean's blog in the summer of '09. I actually finished the quilt at the beginning of May this year, but I didn't want to post a photo of it till it was revealed at the show today. All the quilts were revealed this morning as part of our June guild meeting and awards were handed out at the end of the meeting. I was really surprised when they called my name out. There were lots of fancy quilts there and I really didn't think my quilt would place at all.

All the quilts will hang in the Hartsville, SC Museum for the summer so if you are in town, stop by the museum to see them in person.

Block Progress

2011-05-31T22:22:00.002-04:00

Today was a busy day for me around the house, but every now and then I would steal 15 min or so and sit at the sewing machine to work on some projects. I am simultaneously working on two projects and during my short bursts of sewing time I made 5 more string blocks and the Sawtooth Star blocks for the table topper and place mats I am making. I am impressed at how much I got done during those several 15 minute sewing sessions. I really felt like I didn't have much time at the machine today, but when I take a peek at the blocks on the design wall, I must admit I got more done than I realized.

Tomorrow looks to be another busy day with three of my kids out of school. My oldest has two more days left filled with exams, but she also has early dismissal at 11:45. So between kids, chores, and school pickup, I may have to do 15 minute sewing intervals again tomorrow.

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Started the String Blocks

2011-05-30T19:38:00.002-04:00

I sewed together all the 9 patch and border strips this morning and got a start on the string blocks for the shirt quilt I am making. Only 20 more string blocks to go, but I need to cut up more shirts. I had only cut the sleeves during the first cutting session, and that has gotten me pretty far, but now I need some longer strips for these string blocks, so back to the cutting table I go.

Earlier today, when I was cutting out my 24 base squares for my string blocks, I also cut out the pieces for some place mats and a table topper. They will be for my good friend's grandmother. These should be quick and fun to sew up.

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Finished the 9 Patches

2011-05-28T09:16:00.000-04:00

This morning I finished up all the 9 patches for the shirt quilt I am working on.

I will have to sew them to the sashing later on tonight though, because right now I am off to a matinée to see a pirate movie with the kids and after that I plan on hitting the craft stores for their Memorial Day Weekend Sales. Hope I find some good loot. :)

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Side Tracked with The Abbey Bag

2011-05-23T12:26:00.002-04:00

I got the new Connecting Threads catalogue in the mail the other day and saw this cute scrap bag kit. It is The Abbey Bag pattern and uses their new line of sewing themed fabrics. I thought they looked really cute and ordered myself a kit. It came in the mail Saturday and I started on it right away. I finished them both up Sunday afternoon and can't decide which one I like best. I suppose I could keep one at my cutting table and one at the sewing machine. :)

Very seldom do my two cats sit by each other, they usually prefer opposite couches, but this morning I guess the sun coming in the window and the soft quilt made them both want to relax in the same place.

Jasper and Sheen

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Sewing Progress

2011-05-21T12:15:00.001-04:00

I got a little bored cutting shirts, so I decided to shift to sewing for a bit.

I got all the sashing strips sewn together yesterday and half of the nine patches.

I have a pile of squares ready to go for the rest of nine patches, and once those are sewn together I will start the string blocks.

=^..^=

Slow and Steady Progress

2011-05-18T18:26:00.000-04:00

Cutting these shirts into strips is taking way longer than I thought, but I am making steady progress. I have all the strips cut for the sashing and most of the squares for the 9 patches in between the sashing. I took a small break from cutting and sewed a few sashing strips together and a small 9 patch. Only 34 more 9 patches, 53 sashing strips, and 24 string blocks to go. :)

While I was cutting and sewing, I had my daughter cut off the buttons of a few more shirts so I can cut more strips for the string blocks. In the photo are two sets of sleeves I will cut next. Hopefully I can finish cutting the rest of the shirts up by this weekend and get sewing on the top next week.

The Start of Something New

2011-05-17T17:00:00.002-04:00

During my craft time the past couple days I have been cutting up men's shirts. My husband's Uncle died last summer and his Aunt has asked me to help turn his old shirts into quilts for her children. So far I have cut off the collars, button plackets, and seams of 8 shirts. There are many more shirts, but this will give me a good start.

I am going to make a slightly smaller version of this quilt on the right. It seems easy enough to figure out the pattern just by looking at it. If I knew the name of the pattern, or a link to who posted the photo, I would add it here, but unfortunately that isn't the case. When I snagged the photo years ago I didn't think to rename it to something that would tell me where I found it. Instead I put it in my "Quilts by Other People" folder. Now I am really wishing I knew who posted this so I could link to their site, so if anyone knows who made this quilt, please let me know so I can do just that.

*UPDATE*

Thanks to Natasha of Scraps-A-Plenty, I now know the blog where this photo is showcased. You can see it as the banner photo of JulieKQuilts. The pattern can be found in Evelyn Sloppy's book Strips and Strings. Thanks Natasha!!

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Last of the 5

2011-05-14T12:08:00.005-04:00

Last night around midnight I put the last hand stitch in the binding of my pink Zig Zag quilt. This one was the last of the 5 quilts that I basted all on the same day at the end of March.

I can't decide if I like this quilt. Some of my daughter's friends, who came over while I was working on it, said, "oh I really like that," and sometimes when I glance at it I really like it too, but on occasion when I stare at it too long I think, "ew, I shouldn't have used that shade of pink". The main reason I made it was to try out a technique posted by Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts. So I am undecided as to what to do with this quilt.

In between the 5 quilts I basted in the end of March, I finished 6 other quilts and one diaper pouch. They are all pictured below (except for one which has to stay secret till June 2). They all had deadlines for the end of April/May so I made them a priority over this zig zag quilt. I suppose that is another reason why it took me over a year and half from start to finish for this pink and white quilt. Since it didn't have a preset destination or wasn't needed for a special event, it kept getting put at the back of the to do list.

The last photo of my cat napping on a quilt at my sewing machine is now a finished quilt, but I don't want to show that one all the way until it is revealed at my next quilt guild meeting in June. It is for my guild's yearly challenge. The theme for that challenge was 9 patch. In June all the quilts from the challenge will be revealed at the Hartsville Museum and be on display all summer for everyone to see. I am excited for that meeting.

Now I feel the need to baste 5 more quilts so I can have something to work on in between customer projects and quilts that need to get done for special days like birthday's and upcoming holidays.

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Cat Nap

2011-05-13T17:40:00.001-04:00

Of all the quilts to sit on in the room, I wonder why my cat, Jasper, always likes to sleep on the one I am working on. I am halfway done with this pink Zig Zag quilt, but Jasper is sleeping so sound I will have finish it once his cat nap is over.

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Don't Faint...

2011-05-12T16:06:00.000-04:00

I have actually finished a project two and a half weeks before it is due!

This is my version of the Candy Bar Pinwheels quilt, the May pattern for the "Le Petite: A year of Small Projects". This is a small quilt that I plan to use on my rectangular coffee table in the living room. I started it on Mother's Day and finished sewing the binding on this afternoon.

Usually I am up till the wee hours of the morning the night before in order to get my projects finished on time. So this feeling of being done early is rare and feels very nice. And this isn't just a top finished in the nick of time, it is actually quilted and bound. A true completed finish. Yay for finally overcoming my desire to procrastinate! (at least this one time anyway)

I used a charm pack from Connecting Threads called Abigail's Garden. I don't usually buy charm packs, or any precuts for that matter, because when you add up the fabric that comes in pre-cuts and compare it to the price paid for yardage, you sometimes end up paying $12 to $15 a yard for pre-cuts while regular yardage is about $8 or $9. With such a huge price difference, I figure I can do the cutting myself and I usually stick to buying yardage. But when I was at the Connecting Threads website buying orange thread for a different project, I saw that they had a some charm packs on sale at a great price so I bought a few to try. I admit they were easy to work with (the pattern called for 2.5 squares, which meant no waste of the 5 inch charm), and I enjoyed having a whole variety of different fabrics to work with. So perhaps when I find more charm packs at a price that brings them closer to yardage prices, I may end up adding a few charm packs to my stash.

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Fabric Postcards

2011-05-07T23:13:00.000-04:00

I finished up some postcards this week for some of my swaps.

One of the swap themes was flowers, so I made these.

Another theme was Houses.
So I copied an idea from Lynn. She had previously sent me this postcard.

Here are my versions.

Thanks for the inspiration Lynn!!

My last swap theme was Bridges. I took one of my drawings and printed it out on white fabric. Then for more emphasis, I stitched around the bridge and waterfall in black thread.
I hope my swap partners like my sketch

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Quilting, Quilting, Just keep Quilting....

2011-05-06T11:34:00.000-04:00

This quilt was made by a guild mate of mine and I did the quilting for her on Wednesday.
She doesn't like heavy tight quilting so I quilted a loose all over swirl pattern for this one.

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Quilting with the Cat

2011-05-02T22:48:00.000-04:00

My cat, Jasper, came and sat on the quilt I was working on this afternoon and decided to take a nap. Since he sat on the opposite corner from which I was working on, I let him stay while I finished up that section. By the time I got to the corner he was all snuggled up in the other end of the quilt.

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My April Le Petite - Brocante

2011-05-01T01:44:00.001-04:00

Here is my version of the Le Petite Challenge for April. I wanted something bright and cherry to drape over the couch for summer so I made my version slightly larger and more rectangular than the original. It measures 40 x 64

It took me forever to make my fabric choices for this quilt. That was the whole delay in my starting, trying to decide which fabrics to use, but I finally picked out a base fabric and was able to get a move on this project. I started with the black Debbie Mumm fabric, which I have had for years. I bought it on sale not sure what I was going to do with it, but for such a good price I figured I could eventually find something to do with it. Now it is finally having its turn in the sun, literally. Once I had that base fabric picked out, it was quick work to add 6 coordinating tone on tone solids to go with it and then I got to cutting.

I started sewing the top Saturday morning, did a few house chores in between, went into town to get some groceries for the week, and then stayed up super late to get it finished in time for the parade on May 1rst. Which is now today....

I am so excited about how it turned out, that I wanted to blog about it right away. Now that its picture is up, I better hit the hay. Hopefully while I rest, I will dream of a good way to quilt this bright beauty. :)

=^..^=

A day at the beach

2011-04-29T22:42:00.001-04:00

My kids had spring break this week, so we drove down to the beach and spent a few days with my parents. Unfortunately it was the same days that the rain storms swept through the east coast. But we did have a small window when it didn't rain so the kids and I headed to the beach with the dogs.

Facing the ocean, the sky was actually pretty clear and the sun was shining hot enough to give us sun burns. But...

When you turned to look behind you, the gray clouds loomed over the sand dunes.

We stayed for about an hour and a half and then went back to grandma's house where we visited and played games. Even though the weather was bad we still had a good time on our break.

We got home late last night and today I was inspired to make some beach postcards.

They are for one of the "open theme" postcard swaps I am in.

I have also finished cutting out my fabric for the Le Petite Challenge for April.
I am cutting it close to the deadline again for this one.

I sewed two of the quarter triangle squares together and that is all the sewing I have done. So I know what I will be doing tomorrow. Luckily the easy part is left. The hardest part for me is trying to decide which fabric from my stash I want to use. I stare at my fabric shelves for hours testing out color combinations. I pull out a fabric and then put it back because I'm not ready to cut into it yet. I told my daughter, who was watching me and questioning my process, "I haven't had that piece of fabric long enough to cut it yet. I want to stare at it a couple more months before I make anything with it." She just rolled her eyes and left me to my madness. :)

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Eggs for Easter

2011-04-22T09:34:00.000-04:00

I made these 5 eggs for my Flat Easter Egg Swap at Fabricards. They are made just like the fabric postcards, and can even be mailed in this shape. But since mine had some beading on the flowers, I decided to put them in some clear envelopes. I kept the one in the middle for myself and added it to my Easter Decorations

These are the ones I got in return.

Now I have a basket full of flat eggs.

YAY!!

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4 down 1 to Go

2011-04-19T13:57:00.002-04:00

I finished the quilting and the binding on my Sweet Spot quilt this afternoon.
The shadows strewn over the quilt are from the tree in my backyard. This little bit of shading sure has helped the actual quilting show up better than when I took its picture in full sun.

I only have one quilt left to quilt from my original 5 quilts that I basted on the 21rst of March. Which is the Pink Zig Zag quilt, but that will have to wait till after I finish the quilt I am making for my Quilt Guild Challenge, which is due the first week in May. The challenge theme for this year is "9 patch or 9 patch variation". So I have decided to turn in a very traditional 9 patch and finish up the nine patch quilt I started with Amanda Jean's sew along back in April-July of 2009. Wow, two years ago. It really doesn't seem that long ago. Again I am glad for this blog to keep my dates in check. I would have sworn it was only last summer that I put those 9 patches together into a top. I don't have any current photos of the top as is, but all it needs now is a thin outer white border and some quilting. I pan to add the white border later this evening and then I can baste it. Hopefully I can get started on the quilting in the next couple days, that is if my schedule can stay uninterrupted, but with 4 kids and lots of pets, you never know what will come up in the days to come. :)

The four original basted quilts I completed, plus the two extra I made from start to finish in between, make 6 quilts completed in about a month. I have to admit that I am impressed with myself for getting these done. I am not usually that productive, but lately I have been putting all my tasks into my phone using a Task App that I downloaded. It keeps track of all my tasks and reminds me when they are due and when I get close to getting behind. When a task is complete I check it off and it goes off the list. It has really helped me manage my time better. I enter in every thing that I have or want to do, whether it be work or play. If I am working on one task and think of something else that needs to get done, I quickly add it to my phone with a completion date and get back to the task at hand. I feel like I get so much more done in a day than I have in the past by using this simple little app. I use to keep notes on paper, but they would get lost, or I just wouldn't read them, but since I carry my phone almost everywhere, I have a constant reminder of what needs to get done and when. I love it. and my fabric stash loves it. It is finally getting some lovin' other the usual caressing as I walk by.

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Spring Time Fabric Postcards

2011-04-16T10:40:00.000-04:00

I've Made several postcards over the past few weeks in between quilting quilts. Can you tell I really like this green flowery fabric? I have used it in all of them but one.

This Easter Egg was done using the Iris Folding technique. But instead of paper, I used fabric. I sure love the look of these types of cards. I also made an iris folded strawberry.

Then I used the egg I cut out from the Iris folded card to make new Easter Cards.
I used up some of the left over Easter appliqués I had left over from previous cards.
So they are all a little different.