Mondo Bags in Progress

After finishing up my Slide Show quilt I went to my Q2 Finish A-Long list to pick a new project to finish up. I decided to go with the Mondo bags.  I have some packages I want to mail out and it would be great to be able to have the Mondo bags ready so they can go in the boxes as well.

Each bag uses 208 squares.  I had most of them already cut so I only had to cut a few charm squares to get the remaining squares I needed for all three bags.  I made some good progress, but finishing them up will have to wait a bit since my machine is shoved in a corner and inaccessible.

I spent yesterday pulling up the old carpet in my sewing room which means the sewing machine has to go on vacation for a bit till things get put back together.  Hubby and I will be laying new floor in the evenings when he gets off work.  It shouldn't take too long... I hope.  :)

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Slide Show Finished!

I finished the binding on my Slide Show quilt yesterday afternoon.
I waited till this morning to get a photo because I wanted to hang it from the back fence where it gets full sun in the morning. Well, what I didn't realize till this morning was that full sun on the fence is only in the winter when there are no leaves on the trees.  

So I draped it over the fence, but I couldn't get the full quilt in the sun like I wanted.

So I asked my daughter, who exempted all her exams and no longer has to go to school, what her wing span was.  She is a couple inches taller than me and she made the perfect quilt holder.

I quilted an all over meander pattern on this one.
I will be giving it away and I want it to be used and washed often.
"Use it up, wear it out, so I can make new ones."
That is how I feel about some quilts.  :)

This is my second finish on my Q2 Finish A-Long list.
This is also my May goal for A lovely Year of Finishes.

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WIP Wednesday - Slide Show

I am almost done with the quilting on my slide show quilt.
I have one quadrant left to go.

I decided to quilt an all over meander since I have plans for this quilt to be used and washed frequently.  This one should be ready for binding by tomorrow afternoon.

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May Goal for ALYOF - Slide Show

I started out with this in November 2011

(It was a kit I won from the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway day in May of 2011.)

Two days later it turned into a top without borders.  Then it sat... and sat... and sat...

Till February 7th, 2012 when I got the borders sewed on.  (unfortunately no full pic of borders)
Then is sat... and sat... and sat...

Till December 2012 when I basted it. 

But then it sat again... and sat.. and sat...

Till I put it on my Finish along list for Q4 of 2013. 

Which it still sat till it got moved to first quarter of the 2014 Finish A-long...  

Which it sat till it got moved the the second quarter of the 2014 Finish A-Long...

So I think it is time to get this one finished.  I've noticed that projects with deadlines always get finished first, so I figured the best way to get this one finished is to give it a deadline.

By the end of May my Slide Show quilt will finally be finished!

To see all the goals for May head on over to the link Party at Fiber of All Sorts.

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Floating Pinwheels finished for April's ALYOF

Not a lot of sewing going on this month but I did finished my Floating Pinwheels quilt just in the nick of time.
It was my April goal of A lovely Year of Finishes.
Click here to see the link party and all the finishes.
Phew, I am still on track for finishing 12 goals for the whole year for ALYOF.

This is also my first finish on my second quarter list for 2014 Finish A-Long.

Not sure what I feel like working on next.  I have 1.5 weeks of college left which is all have been focusing on this month.  Maybe it two weeks the sewing bug will come back.

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Goals for Q2 Finish A-Long and April's ALYOF

I did pretty good with my list for the first quarter of the 2014 Finish A-Long.
I finished six on my list of twelve.  I wanted 7 but I got busy with school and the community play, so I am happy with 6 finishes. You can see which ones got done here.

For my Quarter Two list I moved over the ones that didn't get finished in Q1 and add six new ones.

Here they are...

Christmas Quilt

Started December 2012
This one is so close to being done.

Slide Show

Started November 2011
This is its third appearance on a Finish along list.
I do believe it is time for it to get finished.

Mondo Bag x 3

Started Summer 2013
Third time on the list as well.
These need to get done since they are going to be gifts.
I don't want to be waiting till Dec 20 to finish these.

Jewel Box Quilt

Started November 2011
Border fabric has been picked out so I am good to go on this one.

Baby Cakes Quilt

Started April 2012

Christmas Dresdens

Started December 2012
These I am uncertain of the layout I want.
Perhaps this quarter inspiration will strike.

The six new UFOs for this quarter are:

Floating Pinwheels

Started January 2014

I am also making this one my goal for April's A Lovely Year of Finishes.

Colorful Lone Stars

Started January 2014

Stripe Tube Quilt
Started April 2012

Do something with this top. 

Started May 2012

I am going to change the sashing.

I don't like it so much and that is why it became a UFO.

Butterfly Quilt

Started April 2008

Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along

Started September 2011

I have listed almost all my big quilt tops.

I have couple left, but I will save those for next quarter.   :)

Click here to see everyone else's goals for Q2.

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Wild Thing Quilt Finished!

Friday morning was suppose to be spent doing homework, but my teacher was stressing me out so I decided to drop everything and some something quilty to relax my mind.

I basted my Wild Thing quilt the other day so I grabbed it,put it under my sewing machine, and got to work.  I finished the quilting and binding a little after lunch  on Friday.  This quilt will be used on a regular basis so I did some simple meandering. It will be going on my son's bed and will be washed frequently.

  It is super soft and my son hasn't had a quilt for his bed in a long time.  He is excited about it.

This is my 6th finish from my Q1 Finish-A-Long list.

It is also my March Project for A Lovely Year of Finishes.

You can see all the March finishes here.

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Flags on a Stick Blog Hop

I'm hopping today with the Flags on a Stick blog hop.

The hop is being hosted by Thearica and Mdm Samm.

Today's Hoppers are:

Bumbleberry Stitches

Quilted Delights - Me  :)

Red Quilts

On the Banks of Frog Creek

Words & Stitches

K and S Sweets and Stitching


And now without further ado... I present to you my my flag.

I was definitely thinking spring for my project.

My favorite flowers are tulips and since I have been in a paper piecing mood lately, I went in search of the perfect tulip paper piecing pattern.

I found just the one I needed here and moderated the pattern a bit to create my little spring flag.

It's a little stiffer than most quilts with all the quilting I put in it, 

but it still blows in the wind in the front yard. 

Again here are the hoppers for today.  Make sure you check them out.

March 27thBumbleberry Stitches
Quilted Delights
Red Quilts
On the Banks of Frog Creek
Words & Stitches
K and S Sweets and Stitching

The entire schedule can be found at Thearica's blog.

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FNSI Results - Start of Pythagoras' Lute

I'm a tad bit late showing the results of my FNSI, but I did get to sew that night.

I worked on my final project for Project quilting.  The theme was triangles.  Unfortunately I didn't get the project done on time - it still isn't done - there were a couple of reason why it didn't get finished.

First I had a hard time deciding on a pattern - this time I didn't have trouble with ideas, the trouble was that I had too many ideas and didn't know which one to pick. They were all wonderful in my mind. I finally decided to to start on a twisted triangle log cabin quilt. I even colored my layout and started picking out fabrics, but as I was laying the paper piecing patterns on the wall, I decided I wanted to make the quilt a lap sized quilt and I knew I couldn't complete that that in the amount of time I had left.

So I went to plan two, Pythagoras' Lute.  It has ten paper pieced wedges. I thought to myself, "Surely I can knock that out in two and half days, it's only 10 wedges." I reasoned that the piecing would take the longest, but once that was done I could do some simple quilting and still make the deadline for Project Quilting.

Well, when I got the pattern I found each wedge was made of 16 smaller pieces.  I small snag, but I still had hope. The first part was slow going. I was switching between the ten different fabrics for each tiny piece and cutting small pieces here and there from bigger chunks and trying to line up the pattern to make sure I was doing it right.  Then I realized I printed the pattern wrong (sizing issue) and had to scrap the whole first half of one wedge.  Then I started the same process again with right sized templates. I was beginning to think I had bitten off more than I could chew, but as the clock got closer to midnight I finally had an epiphany.

There are five color combinations, and each color combination is done twice, but the second one is done in reverse.  I realized I could take one color combo and complete all the pieces at once and then move on to the next color combo.  My piecing went much faster after that, but bedtime was looming and I had to get up at 6 am to get to my first day of BIO lab.

--This term is my last college term. I am taking Bio 101, the lab to go with it, and my last business class.  When these classes are over I will finally have my bachelors degree!--

I had planned to sew the rest of the Saturday after my bio lab and knock out the top, and quilt it up early Sunday morning, but my Bio Lab ended early.  You would think that would give me more time to quilt, but that wasn't the case.

My family had planned a trip to visit the in-laws that same weekend, but they had to leave by 1pm in time to get to a planned event. That meant I couldn't go because I wouldn't get home from my lab class till after 2pm or later.  But since my lab ended at 10:30 (that included my lab partner meeting afterward) instead of 12:30, I suddenly found myself free to go with the family.  I rushed home, packed up my stuff and headed out of town.

I didn't get home till midnight Sunday night, so needless to say I didn't get my last project done for project quilting, But that is ok.  We hadn't seen some of our relatives in almost a year and it was definitely worth it to see them.   I am still excited to finish Pythagoras' Lute, but it will have to turn into a UFO for the awhile.  There are other quilty items that are due first.  I don't think I will put this one in a bin though. The ones that go in bins seem to stay a UFO the longest.  I shall keep it on the desk in a corner to remind me to keep it on the current to do list.

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Play Clothes

I haven't been doing much personal sewing this week, but I have been sewing.  I've been finishing the quilting on some of my guild mate's quilt, which I can't show yet but I can finally show off the play clothes I made for the Lake City Community Theater's production of The Sound Of Music.
The play ended last Sunday and was a wonderful success.  

This was taken during dress rehearsal right after Captain Von Trapp told all the children to get in a straight line.  The material looks really light under the stage lights, but it was really a flowery light blue upholstery fabric. My Thomas is right in the middle.  He played Kurt - I wasn't quite finished with his shorts in this photo.  I still had to hem them up with a cuff. They were done just in time for the first production.  Phew!  The heads in this photo near the children's feet are the live orchestra. Lake City sure knows how to put on a great production!

   Here are four of the girls back stage waiting to go on.  They look fabulous with their smiles.

Check out the nuns in the background too.  Thanks so much to Liesl for this photo!

Can't wait for the next play!

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My Project for theRuffles Blog Hop

Today is Day 6 of the Ruffles blog hop, hosted by Mdm Samm of Sew We Quilt, and Amy of Sew Incredibly Crazy.  When I first heard about the Ruffle hop I knew it was the perfect motivation to make myself a new church bag.  I have been carrying around a plain black tote bag for about 12 years.  It was definitely time for a change. So I came up with this smaller prettier version.

I was able to go with a smaller bag since because the wonderful digital age has given me access to all my class manuals and scriptures right on my phone and that means less books to lug around. My only requirements for this bag was that it had to be big enough to carry my doodle pad and it had to have a front pocket for easy access to my keys, phone, and pens.  I also have room on the inside for my fancier pens that are in a small case.

Some of you may be wondering why I need a doodle pad at church, but in all honesty, it helps me pay attention.  I noticed no matter how hard I try to pay attention while staring at the people speaking, my mind wanders. I end up thinking about the height of the podium, or the flowers sitting next to it. Or I focus on what the speaker is wearing, wondering why their left sleeve is raised slightly higher then the right, or why the manufacturer choose a certain type of button over the other - small trivial things that take me away from the spiritual message being given.

Then one day when the kids were little, I was doodling with them during the meeting and I noticed I got more out of that session than I had in a long time. I tested my theory the next week and sure enough doodling helped me pay attention better in church, so I went out and bought me a pad and some pens and now I doodle in church and this Sunday I will have a cute fancy ruffled bag to bring with me.

Make sure you stop by the other blogs today and check out their ruffled creations.

March 12th 

Quilted Delights - (You are Here)

Patchwork Breeze

Sheila's quilt world

vicky myers creations

Words & Stitches

Sew Many Yarns

Sew and Sow Farm

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Wild Thing - Top Done

Yesterday I took a break from quilting some of my guild mates quilts so I could finish up my Wild Thing quilt top. I sewed the last few rows together and added the borders.  I think I will let the top stay on the design wall while I finish the quilting on Sara's and Tish's quilts, which I'll post pictures of in a couple months. Their quilts will be going in our guild's Challenge Quilt Show in June so I Have to keep them a surprise till then.

  

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Project Quilting Challenge 5

The theme for challenge 5 of Project Quilting was: The Grocery Store.

We were suppose to find three things at the grocery store that inspired us to make a quilted project.  I'll admit this one stumped me.  Thursday night had rolled around and I still didn't have an idea.  I had been to the store and looked around, but nothing was inspiring me.

I did enjoy looking at all the colorful fruit in the produce section though, and finally decided I should go ahead and work with fruit. Apples in particular, since I had some apple fabric in my stash.  I contemplated layouts and designs and even asked friends for ideas, but I couldn't come up with something I liked, or something that I liked that I could put together in the next couple days.

I decided I better get off the apple idea and move onto something else.  Then I came up with a great idea to make a watermelon log cabin quilt.  I even played around with some layout ideas:

But as I started to cut out the light colored fabrics I realized I just wouldn't have enough time to complete a log cabin quilt in two days, even a small one.  I could probably get the top done if I stayed up late both nights, but I wouldn't be able to baste, quilt, and bind it before the Sunday deadline.  So I scrapped that idea as well.

Then I got to thinking about strawberries, one of my favorite fruits. They have been looking good on the shelf in the produce section lately and a couple weeks ago I printed out a strawberry iris folding pattern that would be perfect for some Strawberry themed fabric postcards.  I decided now was the perfect time to make them.

Since my last few daylight hours of the week were spent playing with relatives at the beach, I had to work on these four beauties Friday evening and during the wee hours of Saturday night/Sunday morning. I finished them in time to get a few hours of sleep before I post pictures and headed off to church.

I made four at a time because there are a few mailboxes I want these to land in during the next couple days. I am submitting a small project this week but hopefully inspiration will strike early next week and I can work on a bigger project for the last challenge of the year.

To check out all the other entries submitted this week and VOTE for your three favorites,

click HERE.  My strawberries are #19.  To vote click the heart in the upper right corner of the project you like the best.

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