See You in September Blog Hop

My summer was mostly spent making memories with the family and playing in the lakes and waterfalls of South Carolina. We took several weekend trips and had one full week of camping fun.

As far as making things at the sewing machine, I spent a lot of time finishing up some UFO's, which I have been blogging about throughout the summer. I am always trying to whittle down my UFO pile but I always like to start new projects - probably why the UFO pile never gets smaller. Luckily this hop gave me incentive to start and FINISH three new projects this summer.

First on the list, I made another Ruffle tote with pockets.  The first one was made in March for the Ruffles blog hop and I made it to carry my drawing pad. When my Mom saw it, she told me if it was just a couple inches bigger it would be the perfect bag to carry her iPad around.
So I made another one this summer and made it a couple inches bigger just for her.

I also took some pictures as I made it and turned it into a pattern. It is my first attempt at making a pattern so I am offering it for free at Craftsy just for this blog hop. You can click the link at the top right on the blog or click here to go to Craftsy to get the pattern.

The bottom.

Here are both totes together.
You can see the new one is slightly taller, it is also an inch wider,
Perfect for iPads or any other tech pad.

For my next project I started out with this pile of lovelies.

This was my first time working with Riley Blake Gingham and I must say it is wonderful fabric to work with.  In the past I would avoid gingham in my projects because every other gingham I came across was flimsy, very light weight, and would cut all wonky.  Riley Blake is just the opposite.  It is soft and thick and wonderful to work with.  I will definitely be using Riley Blake's gingham the next time I need more for a project.

I turned some of that yummy goodness above into the quilt below.

I first saw this quilt block on Geta's blog. She calls it a modern dresden, but I like to call it Wagon Wheels or Steering Wheels because that is what I think of when I look at it. I've seen others call it windmills, dresden fans, and sunburst.  No matter the name, I love the block and when I first saw it, I put it on my quilt "to do" list.  It stayed there a long time though because I could never decide which fabrics to use.  During the summer I found out that gingham makes a wonderful Wagon Wheel quilt.  

When I was working on the layout of the blocks I split the quilt in two and put one of each color on the top and one on the bottom, but my son said if I move the red and yellow around every color would be opposite each other in the same way a knight moves on the chess board.  So I swapped the yellow and the red blocks and now each color can find its mate if it goes over two and down one or vise-verse.  I suppose I could also name the quilt "Knight's Movement".  So many names to choose from.

The quilt is 47 inches wide, just a few inches wider than most fabric, so I went for an easy pieced backing.

While cutting the strips for my Wagon Wheel quilt, each strip left me with two scrap dresden plates.  Just enough for one more mismatched block.  I decided to turn that into a pillow.  I finished it up with a band of dark blue gingham and stuffed it, leaving just enough room for it to squish up nice and soft when you hug it.

 My final project was a hedgehog coin purse.  When I first saw this on Craft Passion I knew I had to have one of my very own.  I think she turned out fantastic with her pink gingham quills.  

Thanks for stopping by to see my summer projects.
Be sure to check out the other hoppers today and see what they have been working on

Wednesday, September 10
Secretly Stitching
Buzzing and Bumbling
Quilt n Queen
Quilted Delights (Me)
Grandmama's Stories 

To see the whole Schedule, wonderfully hosted by Shari and Mdm Samm, click here.

=^..^=

Happy 2014!

In 2013 I finished 16 quilts, one table runner, and a plethora of smaller goodies for my friends and family.

This first collage is a recap of all the quilts.

 This next one is of all the smaller non quilted items I made throughout the year.

It is fun to see everything I created grouped into these collages.
Some months I felt so busy with school and sewing for other people that felt like I didn't have time to work on some of my own things, but these pictures prove otherwise.  It was a great year for crafting!

I have big plans for 2014 in the sewing room: 

Use more of my Stash
Finish up more of my UFO's 

Start on some of those Kits I keep buying

And of course start a couple new projects in between.

~Happy New Year~

=^..^=

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

2012 was a great year for quilts around here. I completely finished 18 quilts of various sizes.

I was so close to getting 19 finishes for the year, I only needed to add binding to one more and I would have had it.  Instead I spent the remainder of 2012 playing games with the kids and visiting relatives.  The time was well spent and even though I didn't reach 19 finishes it all works out in the end. I got to visit and create memories and now I am super close to a finish for 2013. Hurrah!  :)

These are all 18 projects. A couple may look like duplicates, but they are slightly different.

Hopefully I can be just as productive for 2013.

I'll keep you posted!

=^..^=

Finishes in 2011

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

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.