Still sewing!

Apparently I am much more dedicated to sewing than to keeping up on my blog...

I've been finishing up some old projects

From 2011, leaf blocks made by each lady that attended a retreat with me. I'm so happy to have this finished and on the wall. Every time I walk by it makes me smile as I remember fun times and wonderful quilting friends.

This is one "spooky" fractured quilt! I think this may have been a 4 yr old project and I finished it up in time to display for Halloween

Little Wooly baskets, from a pattern by Dawn Heese. I took some of these blocks on our trip to Ireland earlier this year, wool applique is a great take a-long project. These are little 6" blocks.

A  fun little girl quilt. 10 butterfly squares came in a scrap box from my friend Candis. With sashing 9 made a quick quilt but I decided to applique the last one with the word "butterfly" That made a more usable size. It has been donated to the local guilds community service group.

A little one, these basket blocks are just 5" My version of Jo Morton's cheddar baskets quilt.

And of course I always have many in progress

A quilt top just finished from a mystery QAL we just had on QATW. My goal is to have this quilted and finished by Friday.

And still working away at my "let it Snow" from Buttermilk Basin. Just have 3 more blocks to go. It's my "while watching TV" project

Now I'm off upstairs to see what I want to work on today!

My Friday Finish : )

Woodgrain quilting design

 Nothing like a little motivation of a deadline (even a self imposed one) to get my quilting mojo going!

I had a quilt top I finished about a month ago, even had the backing pieced and ready to go. I don't know why I procrastinate so long, in one afternoon I was able to load it on my quilt frame AND get it quilted. I cut out the binding before I went to bed and I don't think it took more than an hour to make the binding and sew it on.

So HAPPY DAY here, a quilt top quilted this week and a finish too....

I call this one my "Ugly" quilt. A bunch of ugly batiks that I was going to donate til I decided to just make a "quick" quilt with them to donate someplace. Well my teen didn't think it was ugly at all, he love it. Guess it's already found it's home.

Too breezy today to get a good photo so I had to settle for laying it out on the grass, makes the edges look wavy but really they're not!

62 x 85"  Big enough for his bed.

And for the back...

Musical fabric chosen with a particular teen in mind

And I got a little time in yesterday too with my red swap blocks UFO, I'm adding triangles or sashing to each block to make them 9" so the original 6" blocks will stretch far enough to make a quilt without having to make a bunch more blocks.

Do you see those top 3 blocks? I had extra bowtie blocks so I took a few apart and resewed then in a different layout. The right one is the original, the other two the re-arranged ones. I have 2 each of all the other blocks and had 8 bowtie blocks. 

Linking up with TGIFF and I'll be checking out what yummy things others have finished.

Off to School I go????

No blog posts for a while. I have been sewing, but not as much time in the summer.

But guess what???

Tuesday the kids go BACK TO SCHOOL!!!!!
That means I will have time to think and to SEW

Yesterday I found myself unexpectedly waiting for a child for a whole hour and I didn't have any hand-sewing with me....oh sad, sad day.
Well actually it didn't turn out to be such a sad thing, I did have pen and paper. As I sat there thinking about all my many, many started but unfinished projects I thought, gee, I need to be sent to "Finishing School", a place where there are rules, deadlines, etc that would force me to stay focused and get my work done. That led me to deciding I could do this, I just need to come up with the rules, dates that things are due, guidelines etc.
So here they are:

FINISHING SCHOOL RULES

 I WILL:

1.  Have a FAB 5 list.  One of these MUST be a hand-sewing project. I can ONLY work from this list of 5. I must finish one of these to a TOP before I can add in another project. Quilt tops in line for quilting don't count as one of the FAB 5.

2.  Quilt at least one QUILT TOP each week. I have an overflowing plastic tote of tops waiting on quilting, if I don't have a newly finished one I will choose one of these.

3.  Have a FINISH by each FRIDAY. A finish may be anything made with fabric that is FINISHED. Quilt, wallhanging, table topper, hot pad, pillow, apron, etc

4. Make a QUILT BACK within 7 days of completing a TOP.

5.  Get the TOP QUILTED within 15 days of completing TOP.

6.  Save patterns for any BOM I want to make. If I start one it will count as one of my FAB 5.

7.  No more than ONE NEW PROJECT each month. The point after all is to finish what I have already started. 

8.  Quilt projects DO NOT have to be completed as originally planned, they can be modified, made smaller, made into an alternate project, combine with another project, etc.

9.  Make a CHALLENGE quilt each quarter. For example...use test blocks, orphan blocks, scraps, ugly fabric, etc.

10.  NO BUYING FABRIC! Yes, as well as having many, many unfinished projects, I also have lots and lots of fabric. Well you can never have too much fabric, but I need to use up some of what I have. So I will buy NO NEW FABRIC unless I NEED a SPECIFIC fabric to finish a current project on my FAB 5 list. Batting is NOT fabric. Also fabric received from gifts, scrap donations, wins, trades are legal. Just no BUYING new fabric.

Exceptions:

Since this is "school" #'s 2-5 may be waived during my kids school breaks.

During my quilt retreat week in October I can work on other projects besides the FAB 5

My kids school doesn't start till Tuesday, but I'm antsy to start. I've made my FAB 5 list and I'm going to start following these rules TODAY!  Yikes, that means a Finish by Friday, I going to go have to look at that tub of quilt tops!

Here's my Starting FAB 5 list:

#1. Red Swap blocks.

28 6" blocks from a 2014 swap at Quiltingaroundtheworld.com

The original plan was to make 3"blue stars too for a flag quilt but now I've come up with a different plan.

#2. Shrinking Squares

Started recently from a quilt I saw on  http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com

I have the blocks all made and I'm in the process of sewing them together.

#3. Harvest Mystery from http://farmhousethreads.blogspot.com

This is my hand-sewing project, I'm working on block #6

#4. Sugar block Club BOM from http://www.stitcherydickorydock.com

I'm making 2 colorways of these. 6 done of each

#5. Splendid Sampler from http://blog.patsloan.com/pat-sloan-splendid-sampler-blocks.html

I have 34 blocks done. There are 100 total, I'm not sure how many I will make.

So....Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to school I go!!!

A Happy Scrappy Day

When you have a family you just never really know what each day will bring, especially in Summertime. I just fit my quilty time into whatever little free spots I find.

Well Hip Hip Hurray....today turned out to be a productive scrappy sewing day!

First up was a backing for a scrappy 9 patch quilt top I finished piecing last summer. I didn't have enough of anything suitable for the back so I made a scrappy one. The top is made from scrappy 2 1/2" squares, I figured why not make the back scrappy too. I cut 20 large squares from various blue batiks for a quick and easy pieced back

On to project #2. I needed to make a 6" heart block to mail to a friend. I pulled out my strings I've been collecting for a future "Hot Flashes" quilt, reds, yellows, oranges and pinks. A little rummaging through the pile.....so fun!....and I sewed up this little block in no time.

Amazingly the kids were occupied and hubby was working and I found time to get to project #3. I had just watched the newest tutorial from Missouri Star for a Freestyle Churn Dash quilt 

find it here

With that fresh in my mind, and Hot Pink the scrap color for this month over at So Scrappy I found myself sewing some rather wonky pink churn dash block. They actually were very fun, the only cutting really was the white squares (I did 3 1/2" squares) I just took the pink scraps as they were and trimmed off the excess as I squared up the block.  Very quick and easy.

And playing with scraps must be contagious. My little 9 year old read The Rainbow Nest and she decided to make the quilt from the book. She's quite the little sewer. All I did was to cut her a bunch of 2" white squares. She had fun sorting through my box of 2" squares and choosing the ones she wanted and did all the pinning and sewing herself. 

Here's her little collection of blocks so far. She's going to be a great little quilter!

Linking up with Scrap Happy Saturday where I'll be checking out everyone's fun pink scrappiness.

Wooly days

Still having a hard time finding much time for sewing on my machine. I'm trying to get a block done each day for the 365 Challenge quilt each day, need to get a photo of those guys.

But my main accomplishments have been the wooly blocks. Having blocks prepped to take along on summer outings has been working wonderfully. Here's some progress photos:

4 little basket blocks from Linen Closet Designs/http://dawnheesequilts.blogspot.com/

I have 10 made and there are only 2 more of these beauties to do.

This one is a pattern called In the Garden by my friend LauraB over at quiltingaroundtheworld.com. The wheelbarrow block came from another Garden quilt pattern by 2strings over at craftsy.com

Time to start thinking about sashing now for this one.

And one other fun little wooly project. These little hexis are perfect little projects for on the go. Woolies flannel for the background with wool applique. These are from  the Stitching Society, I think there are 180 of them. Since I only have 4 made I'll don't think I'll run out of on-the-go projects for a LONG time!

Summer time.....long days but little quilting.

Summer Time, those long lazy days. It seems like without the school schedule, homework etc, there should be more time to sew. Not so, because kids are home and many of our days are filled with summer activities. 

As we were heading out to the lake yesterday my smart hubby asked if I'd brought my handsewing. Packing all the fixings for a picnic I hadn't even thought of it. Thanks to him I was able to get most of the embroidery finished on a wool block from the Harvest Mystery quilt Blog Hop from  http://farmhousethreads.blogspot.com/ 

Here's my first 2 blocks

Do you remember the quilt top I recently finished, amazingly I got it quilted AND binding on instead of my usual toss it on the "to quilt someday" pile. The quilting adds so much texture to the quilt.It is now folded neatly and tucked away for a future gift.

My other small accomplishment was to make the June block for the Sugar Block club from http://www.stitcherydickorydock.com/

Here's my June blocks

and the first 6 together in my 2 colorways

So less sewing time, but still SOME sewing time. I need to be more prepared with take-a-long projects,  It makes for a happy Mama!

5 years later......

Back in January 2011 I stumbled upon a small group of ladies that were making the Dear Jane quilt. I had never heard of it before, but I looked it up......those little blocks looked so cute.....

Well before I knew it I had clicked "order" and the Dear Jane book was on it way.

Well there are cute blocks, tricky blocks,  and some "what the heck was Jane thinking?" blocks and TRIANGLES. Yikes, those triangles. At first I wasn't even going to do them, but I got sucked in, can't say I enjoyed making them all but I did. And I even did a scalloped border, my first time ever.

It was a LOT of work, many stops and starts along the way. But every time I pulled it back out I loved how it looked so i just kept plodding along, working on those little blocks in between many, many other projects. And finally it paid off.....

Here is my big TA-DA.....

While working on that binding....it took me almost a week to get all that hand-stitching done, I had to have something else fun and easy to work on. Well I saw THIS free pattern that used a layer cake. I'd had a set of gingham prints from Riley Blake, just 11 of them. Seemed like this was the perfect project to use them up. Just 11 10" squares plus  some Kona white and I came up with 5  16"blocks, plus a bonus star block with the leftovers. 

I was thinking a 9-patch layout, 5 blocks with 4 plain white blocks. But I'm not fond of square quilts so I added my bonus block as a top row....52x68"  a great size for a lap quilt, and all from 11 10" squares!

Now to get it quilted.....

Bloom and Dear Jane

I've been busy sewing as usual but I decided to get back to writing about it on my blog.

Lori Holt's Bloom Sew Along was too cute to pass up. I made all the blocks but I chose to put mine in a different setting. And I LOVE how it turned out....now to find some time to quilt it!

I'm also working on Amy Gibson's Sugar Block Club. Almost fell behind on this one, just snuck in the May block before June's blocks were released. I wasn't so fond of all that background fabric this month so I changed up the centers to be a print instead. I'm making 2 sets, one for a boy, one for a girl, both made from scraps. 1st block I used a small stripe but I didn't really like the giant center. I added a circle and liked that a little better. The second one I liked my fabric selection better.

And the BIG project, the one that has been taking the most of my time and attention.....well I decided that May was the month to finally finish up my Dear Jane quilt. I have been working on it off and on for 5 1/2 years.....yikes. I have spent the last week or more quilting it and it is off the frame!! Here's a sneak peak at some of the quilting. 

I found it hard to quilt teeny tiny stuff in those little 4 1/2" blocks, and that was my very first time doing feathers, I practiced a bunch with a pencil and paper first.

This next week will find me making bias binding and slowly and carefully sewing it on. My first time for scalloped edge too.