ALYOF Finish and October Goal

I finished this quilt with a few hours to spare for the September ALYOF link up.
You can click here to see all the other finishes for September.

I decided to take out the light red chevron fabric in  the center sashing, but I kept it as an inner border. I quilted it using an all over meander pattern.

I wanted a darker navy fabric for the binding to match the Reunion fabric, but I didn't have any in my stash so I went with the darkest blue I had.  I was worried at first, but it turned out pretty good.

The quilt measures about 45 x 50 and I already have a little cutie in mind to mail it to.
This quilt is also on my third quarter list for 2014. So go to knock another UFO off my list.





My October goal is to finish the quit top for these Dresden plates.

They are all sewn together, they just need a backdrop.
I am aiming to finish only the top this month because this is costume month and I know most of my sewing will be going toward that, but I really want to make some progress on this quilt because I want it on my couch for the Christmas holiday.

So my goal is one Dresden quilt top.

=^..^=

Rush Hour Blog Hop

Lets jump right into to the Rush Hour Hop!

Red and Black is one of my favorite color combos. Add a little white and gray and you have a marvelous color palette that begs to have quilts made out of it.

I ordered several different half yards and some full yards of the Rush hour line and used up almost every bit of it.  These first two quilts were both made in five days.  Now that is rushing it for a quilter!

First up is my Strip Tube quilt.   This quilt went together pretty quick.

I cut out and sewed the top in one day.

Then I quilted it the next day.  A two day quilt!

It is a nice lap size measuring 64 x 46 inches.

I grabbed some Red, black, and white from my stash for the back.

Far away it looks like gingham, but a close up reveals that it is a slightly different pattern.

When I made my strip quilt I cut up this light gray building fabric to go in it, but it was too light and didn't mix well in the strip quilt. Instead of putting the strips in my 2.5 inch scrap bin I decided to come up with an idea to use them right away.  They ended up being the perfect color to go in the center of the long and short blocks of my "Smell the Flowers" Quilt.

 It is originally called "I'm Blushing" and is a pattern on Moda Bake Shop designed by Natalia from Piece N Quilt.  I cut and sewed the top in one day.

The applique took another day - I'm slow with that part.  Then I quilted it on the third day.

That is what you call quilter's rush hour!

I had to add some extra red and blacks from my stash to finish up the top of this quilt.

I am happy that all the fabrics play well together.

This one measures 74 x 56 inches.

More black, reds, and whites from my stash for the back.

The quilting shows up really well on the back.

I still had a little more fabric so I made some bags.

You can never have enough bags.

When I am rushing to get out of the house for weekend trips it is nice to have all my stuff packed in a small bag for me to grab and head out the door.

The first bag is the Jet Set Bag from ByAnnie.
I was drawn to it right away because of its shape.

I love the inside fabric with the clocks and people on the move.

The next bag is a recreation of my old Avon makeup bag that had seen better days.  It was my favorite makeup bag to take on trips because it fit everything I needed in the makeup department. Instead of chucking the old bag in in the trash, I took it apart and used the pieces as a pattern to make a brand new bag.

The clock lining up on the inside was a happy coincidence.

Phew! The sewing machine has been rushing this month for sure.

Check out the other bloggers who are Rushing along with me today.

Friday, September 26

The Quilting Queen Online

Quilting Quietly

Vicky Myers Creations

Grammie Q’s

From This to That

Quilted Delights  (Me)

Check out the whole schedule here.

Thanks to Carol and Mdm Samm for hosting this great hop!

=^..^=

Purge Projects Competed - Girl Version

I finished up three more projects for the purge challenge hosted by Stitched in Color.

They were made using my leftover novelty fabrics and other scraps.

Since the first three quilts were mostly blue I decided to go pink and purple with these.

These three quilts will also be donated to the children's home in my area.

 Since the quilts tops are very similar, I decided to make all the backs different.

Rolled up and ready for delivery.

I'll be linking up here.

=^..^=

Purge Projects Completed - Boy Version

I am happy to show off these three little quilts.  They started out as a response to The Purge hosted by Stitched in Color.  We were suppose to pull out our unloved fabrics, plan a project with them, create it, and finish it up.  I still love all my fabrics, what's not to love, but I do notice that I don't sew as much with novelty prints anymore.  So these prints have been sitting for quite some time unused and feeling unwanted.  So I decided to show them some love.

I decided to make three little boy charity quilts which have been given the stamp of approval from the 3 year old I watch in the daytime.  He had a good time looking at all the different prints and spent a few minutes commenting on each one.  I may have to make him one of his very own to take home with him.

These two went together pretty fast.

They measure 35 in x 42 inches.
The meandering quilting only took 30 min.
(28 to be exact, I timed it.)

This quilt is a little longer, but not as wide.
The quilting took a little longer because I stitched in the ditch and added some straight lines in the sashing.  Straight line sewing is slower then all over meandering, but it looks good too.

Can't wait to turn these over to a little one who can enjoy them.

Next I will be finishing up three more pink brick quilts.
Hopefully in time to add them to the final Purge link party.

Go check it out to see what everyone completed with their unloved fabrics.

=^..^=

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.

=^..^=

Charity Quilts Basted and September Goal

Not much purge progress this week, so I didn't get to be part of the link this time around,  but I am still slowly chuggin' along.  This morning I basted the three boy charity quilts.   Since I expect these to get washed frequently, I plan on doing a simple  meander. They should quilt up in no time.

I also need to post my September goal for  ALYOF.

This month I am going to work on my left over reunion quilt. 

I used all the leftover pieces from my strip tube quilt to make this top.

I'm not happy with the red sashing so I am thinking about taking that out and redoing it. 

Unstitching isn't always the best part of quilting and I think that may keep this project in the UFO pile for a long time, so to make sure it get done, I am making it my September goal for "A Lovely Year of Finishes". I want to redo the top and have a new finished quilt top to add to my pile.

Here it is with me testing the borders and this is where I last left it in May of 2012.

Time to finish it up.

=^..^=

Another UFO Complete - Baby Cakes

This pattern is called Baby Cakes by Black Mountain Needleworks.
 The pattern and the fabric came together in a kit from Connecting Threads.
I started it in 2012.  I finished it last week.

The fabric is flannel and it makes this quilt super soft!  I love it!

And I am proud to say that with this finish I have completed my August goal for "A Lovely Year of Finishes" and I did it before the last hour of the last day of the month like I normally do. Yay!

It is also my fifth finish for my third quarter "Finish A-Long", and with a little more than a month to go for this quarter, I may beat my old record of 6 finishes.  I'll keep you posted.

=^..^=