Some Projects I've worked on this month

 

Here's some of my blocks for the Rainbow scrap challenge. This month's color is teal or bluish green from the Caribbean Sea.  I'm still searching through my stash to find some scraps.  I made 33 different blocks yesterday but they weren't all teal.  I'm playing catch up from February too so I did some pink blocks too.  I made blocks for my Carolina Chain quilt and Cobblestone quilt. 

 

 

 

I made this little wallhanging during the week. This was a fun little project. I've had this little kit for about five years and decided to finally put it together. I used fabric markers for the words and hearts.  The hearts were two different methods. The bottom part was paper piecing and the top was just regular piecing. I had to make half square triangles and quarter square triangles for the top of the hearts. 

 

The next block is for a swap in our guild. It is a disappearing pinwheel block.  Here are the steps to make it.....

 

 

 

 

Here's two  hand embroidered wallhangings I finished. I took an embroidery class to do this project. 

 

I crocheted around these two little fleece blankets.

 

Last but not least I put the top together with black sashing and scrappy cornerstones for my friendship star quilt.  I'm trying to decide on the final border.  I'm thinking about a full black border or a black border with small friendship stars for the corners....I'm really leaning toward the small blocks on the corners but not sure yet....

 

 I'll show you the finished quilt top once I make my mind up. 

 

I have several other blocks to make this week  and I'll show you those once they are all together. I hope you have a great week. Until next time, happy stitching!

A quilt top ready for quilting, a block and a Get It Done finish!

 

 

Here's #1 quilt top all together ready for quilting. I'm using this border fabric for two of the D4P's I'm making.  These are for my two granddaughters.  They are not sisters, they are cousins.  My oldest granddaughter thinks it's cool to have stuff just like her smaller cousin so this one is one of  her birthday gifts. I plan on making a doll quilt to match and a pillowcase too.  I've got to hurry up and finish this one. Her birthday is the 11th!  

 

 

 

Here's a close-up of the cute border fabric....She like the peace signs and flowers.  I hope she likes it. 

 

Here's the block I made for a future BOM for my guild. This is called the Wonky 5-Sides Log Cabin Block and is from the Craftsy website.  It was fun to do.

 

 

Last but not least, here's a pic of my tablerunner I finished.  It is one of my 4 Get It Done Projects for this month.  Yeah!  1 down and three to go...This was fun to make and fun to quilt too.  I got this off the Missouri Star Quilt Company website. Jenny has a tutorial over there on Youtube or her site and you can get it from her there. 

 

Here's a close-up of my star...I wish I had put some interfacing on it so it wasn't so transparent but oh well, it is what is is...

 

Now, I'm off to put that quilt top on the machine to quilt it.  Til next time, happy quilting!

 

Trying to finish projects with some Marti Michell Blocks

I have been trying to finish projects lately and I pulled one out that I have been thinking about. I could have sworn I had done all the blocks on this one but I guess I didn't. I have 3 blocks and some connecter blocks to finish. I did two of those blocks today. I really love the fabric on this and wish I had bought more of this when it was available. I enjoyed working on this BOM last year but was so busy, I didn't get to finish the whole quilt...I am going to finish this one now and get it off my list. Here's the two blocks I cut out and worked on today. These are Marti Michell blocks and go together so well. I used her templates on these and I love them because they are so precise. If you haven't used these before, you have got to try them.

Block 8 - Star of Fortune



Block 9 - Rosette

Amy BOM

I was able to sew up my three blocks for Amy's BOM this rainy afternoon. I love these blocks and I'm so glad I'm sewing them today. They have put me in a patriotic mood. I did not start out to make a patriotic quilt but it's turning out that way. Here are my blocks for this month.

Block 1- July 4th



Block 2 - Star and Pinwheel



Block 3 - Two Star



Happy 4th of July.

BOM updates

I haven't posted anything this week as you can see. It's not because I haven't been sewing, it's just that I have been busy and not taken the time to post. I haven't finished anything this week but I have been trudging along on a few things. I take that back, I did finish my last two blocks for my Thomas quilt. I didn't take any pics yet but I will. Now, I can start putting this quilt together.

Nancy, the Patchwork Penguin drew another UFO for this month. It ended up being number three, which for me is Dear Blanche again. I don't know if you have noticed, but I still haven't completed March or April BOM's.

The March BOM was UFO 2 and it was Dear Blanche. I did complete the top and it is at the Longarmer's as we speak...

April was UFO 10, Scrappy Pineapple. It is still in the flimsy stage. I think that is an accomplishment right there but I saw something the other day. It's not a quilt until it's quilted or something to that effect. I haven't done anymore to the top over the month. I haven't forgotten about it. Believe me...I have thought and thought. I'm so torn about this one. I'm still thinking about putting a piano keyboard border on this one..I will work on this one soon, I promise.

Now, to update you on this month's UFO, Dear Blanche Again. (I will change that name later.) I have 121 completed blocks, these are 6 1/2" blocks and this was an exchange. This took place over a 12 month period. The pattern is out of the Eleanor Burns book, Egg Basket Quilt or something like that. I don't remember the name of the book, I have it at home...These completed blocks have just been sitting around for about 3 years now. We finished the exchange and I just never took the time to finish the project. Last night, I started out by putting them on my design wall. I put them up as 10 rows of 12, with one block left over. When I started sewing the blocks together, I kept thinking...Why is there one block left? Did I do all the exchange? Did I lose some blocks, why the odd number? Then it dawned on me...this is supposed to be a square quilt. 11 rows by 11 rows for a total of 121 blocks. I started out arranging the blocks. I gave up on that and finally just grabbed up all the blocks and I sewed whatever block came up next. I had alot of red blocks in the quilt so the only rule I decided on was to try to not put two reds together....I sewed the blocks together vertically last night. I did not sew the horizontal rows yet. It was getting late and I was tired so I'll finish sewing them tonight. More to come later...

Happy Friday!!!!

Pictures of some of my latest projects

Ok,I promised you a look at the projects I'm working on. Here's some of them...

This one is the little BOM that I just finished up with. It took all year only because it was a BOM. This could have been done in a few days if you wanted to. The blocks were very easy and fun to do. They are 4 1/2" blocks and covered various techniques...Lots of fun. This one's mine, I might make another one to give away or I have thought about just doing 4 of the blocks and making a really small wallhanging to depict the seasons...we'll see.



Ok, here's the 21 snowball blocks. These are half of the center portion of the Reproduction Quilt I'm doing. It is the exchange quilt I was talking about earlier. 21 more to go....



Ah, here's the full center, all 42 snowballs...Doesn't this look great? Before I started working with reproduction fabrics, my first thought was dull, drab colors, boy, was I wrong? These colors are great and I just love the scrappy look.




Here's a closeup of 4 of the blocks.



Here's one of the tablerunners I just finished putting the finishing touches on the applique...I used to refer to applique as the A word. I've grown a little fonder of it but it's still slow for me...I just love this tablerunner and I'm going to hand quilt this one. I think it will be very pretty when finished completely.





Here's the quick tablerunner I did Monday. I'm going to machine quilt this one and bind it with a Moda Marble Dark Blue. It will be the first one on my kitchen table in January since it reminds me of ice... This is one of the blocks. The middle is fussy cut to show off the compass points...This was very quick and easy to make...






This is the little wallhanging for November showing the cute little pumpkins. I have 12 different small wallhangings from this year. Each month was very traditional and I will be working on these and getting these done quickly...I hope. January is snowmen, February is Hearts, etc...Fun, quick projects make me feel good and feel like I've accomplished something. A quick fix.



Here's my latest block for the BOM I'm working on. This is the Marti Michell quilt I am working on. This is block 9 of 12. Only 3 more to go and the main blocks will be finished. This quilt will be one of the ones on my list to complete in 2010. I want to have this one done so I can see it at least by Christmas....

You can see some of the other blocks and the finished quilt on my other blog...Thomas Quilt

Shopping and some new treasures

I went to pick up my BOM this morning and I just couldn't come back home without making a pit stop at Joann's. They are having a big sale on books and notions. I bought a plastic container that was 50% off. I'm going to use this to carry my projects back and forth each month for my BOM. We have to complete the block and bring it in each month to show that we actually did the block. We then receive the next month's block free. If we don't make the block or we don't make it into the shop at the designated time, we pay $5.00 for the next month's block. Believe me, that is an incentive to get to the meeting or class to pick up your block. I know it's just $5.00 but that's another $5.00 added to your quilt top that you could have used for other fabric, a new notion or a Starbuck's... We get the next month's block and any tips or tricks too, plus we get to see each other and that makes it worth the trip. This group is a fun bunch of women and we get free donuts and coffee too...Let's not forget the shopping too! Oh well, sorry, I got off track! I picked up my block, visited with the ladies, took some pictures, bought a few pieces of fabric that told me they wanted to come home with me and went to Joann's....Now, back to Joann's...I bought my plastic container and a new quilt book that was also on sale for 40% off. This is the first book like this I have seen and I am really anxious to try it out. Have you seen this or used this book? It's called Quilting Dot to Dot by Cheryl Barnes. It is a book with patterns for the machine quilter (sewing machine) not long arm machine....I thought it looked very interesting..Give me your feedback on this book if you've read it or used it. I'll let you know what I think too. Here's my project box with some of the goodies I bought today.





Here's the book I bought

A Sample of my blocks

Ok, here's the first 5 blocks of the BOM I'm working on. I love these fabrics... I'm not really crazy about templates but I do like the accuracy of them. I would rather do strip piecing but...Marti Michell templates are great. Very accurate...

Saturday Sewing-BOM-Birthday Wishes

Today was the day to pick up another block in my BOM. I picked up block 5 for next month...This quilt is not going together quick enough for me. I love this fabric. Here's a picture of the quilt. The quilt is in the quilt store and it's hung sideways but I think you can see how lovely it is anyway...



If you want to see what the blocks look like close up, go check out my other blog, http://thomasquilt2009.blogspot.com. We meet once each month and get instructions or a demo on how to put the block together. Some of these ladies are fairly new to quilting and this really helps to get these extra hints or tips plus we get to shop! The store even gives us a discount for coming in! I love this. I always feel like this store really appreciates our business and they are great people too. The owners as well as all the employees are helpful and friendly. They always make coffee and have cookies or muffins for us. It's great. Everyone in this group is alot of fun too! Good times!

After the demo, I rushed over to pick up a friend and we went and had lunch with another friend to celebrate her birthday. Happy Birthday, Cathey! I hope your day was great! Then, Shirley and I went back to her house and finished up getting ready for our class. We are now ready to give the demo and I hope it turns out ok. I'll let you know if our sewing group likes what we did.

I'm still working on my crazy patch block. I had forgotten how to do some of the embroidery stitches. I guess it's true, what you don't use, you lose! Cuz, I sure did. I had to look up some of the old stitches I used to know. But, that's ok, I remember them now and I am enjoying doing this block. I'll show you the block as soon as I finish.. Til next time....

ASG Spring Event with Peggy Sagers

Two of my friends and I went to an event sponsored by American Sewing Guild today. The guest speaker for the event was Peggy Sagers of Silhouette Patterns. She talked to us about the proper use of the French Curve and fitting techniques to help the home sewer. She is a pattern maker and a wonderful speaker. I haven't made my own clothes in a long time but she made me want to...She made a statement about quilting that I thought was interesting and my friends and I agreed with her too. Just for the record, my friends are quilters too. Her statement was that women are quilting now more than ever because they cannot sew quality clothes for themselves. She said people have trouble making clothes that fit themselves properly. Quilting is just straight lines and flat sewing, no darts or fitting problems to deal with. My friends and I agree with her a little but we also think people are making quilts because they love to do it and see a useful product too. I know I quit making clothes for myself because I would make a blouse or pants, and get it finished and it just didn't feel right on. After hearing her today and some of the suggestions and ideas she gave us, I'm going to pull out my patterns and see about making another blouse. I'll put some of her ideas into action and see it they work for me....I'll keep you informed. Here's the website for Peggy Sagers if you are interested.....http://silhouettepatterns.com/. She will also be one of the teachers/speakers at Martha Pullen this year. Martha Pullen is coming up in June....

I also went and picked up my BOM from Thomas Sewing Center this morning. Block Number 2 in this beautiful quilt. I have to get off and go work on this block....

Lazy weekends and a little tatting

I worked on several quilt blocks this past Saturday. I'll post a picture of those later. I'm trying to get caught up on all my BOM's and get back on track. I am still trying to finish things up. I am working on a BOM from 2007. I have all the big blocks done, now I just have to do all the completer blocks or small blocks that go with it. This is the first 30's quilt I have done. I was enjoying myself but started getting hungry. I came downstairs to eat lunch and made the mistake of turning on the TV while I ate lunch. I got interested in a program on TV and didn't go back up to my sewing room at all that afternoon. I had such plans, but since I don't have to get up and go to work on Saturday mornings anymore, I feel so lazy! It is really nice just to relax and enjoy sewing or relaxing with a nice cup of coffee and not having to rush around. I should have done this years ago.....Well, I can't just watch TV and not do something with my hands so I started tatting some little motifs. I'll do some more sewing this next week and post those pics this week.

I am so proud of myself, I just had to tell you.... I tried doing this little pattern a few weeks ago and I just couldn't do it. I tried it several times and just kept messing it up every time. I had a blockage where this pattern was concerned. I know this is not a hard pattern, I was just misreading the directions everytime I tried it... Anyway, I finally did it and it wasn't hard at all. I've seen this on several people's blogs and I just had to try it one more time. It went together so easy this time...This was from an old Workbasket magazine. It was really fun to do this time. Go figure...I don't know what was wrong with me but I really felt like I had done something when I finished this one!



Here's one I did last week and forgot to post. This is another Heart's Desire, pattern is by Susan Fuller. It is my favorite heart pattern. This is in the same thread as the butterfly above. This is Lisbeth thread...Marble. I love the thread. It is one of my favorite colors...I saw this tatted in this thread on Intatter's - Fox Tats and I loved it. I just had to have one of my own. Thanks Fox. By the way, she's got a new blog called Tat-ology.com, isn't that cute....Check out her blog, it's great.




I also saw another motif Fox had tatted called Mardi Gras, the pattern is by Patty D and I just had to tat that one too. I had fun doing this one too....This was challenging with the SSSR (Single Shuttle Split Ring) but I so enjoyed the challenge. I'm working on it again and making another one. I'll be sharing this pattern with my tatting group tomorrow. This thread is size 10 thread called Mexicali by J.P.Coates. It's a heavy thread but I just love the colors. I'll do it again in a smaller thread later.




Now, here are some other little motifs I tatted during the week. I just didn't have a chance to post them til now. The little crosses are from Jane Eborall's website and they are called Small Cross. I did these to learn the self closing mock ring. I love doing these. Lots of fun.... You can get the pattern off of her site at this
link....Jane Eborall Jane has a great blog and website. Lots of patterns and lots of help with tatting....I hope you look at her blog.





I tatted the purple one at the tatting group last week and the other one yesterday. I'm sorry but I can't remember what book it came out of, I'll find out tomorrow. I ordered the book and should get it in the mail. I'll update this and let you know where I got it. I told you I liked that thread. I think it's a fun thread to use...(Mexicali)




I did this one and I don't remember what or where the pattern came from. I just wanted to use the thread. It is Omega and tats up very stiff. It would be really good for coasters.



I'll post my other quilting pictures later. I need to get off for now and do some tatting and get ready for tomorrow. Til next time.....