3 Quilt Tops ready for quilting!

Well, I didn't get to do my teal blocks Saturday or during the week last week like I intended but I did sew all week.  Friday night, I finished putting together my Friendship Star quilt and I must say that I am so pleased with it.  I have never used black to sash anything with and I really like how it looks. The quilt is made up of big friendship star block (12 inch finished) and the borders are 6 1/2" borders with 6 1/2" friendship stars on the corners.  Some of the 12 inch blocks were birthday blocks from many years ago that I received from my quilting group.  I made a lot of them myself to make the quilt as big as I wanted.  

 

 

I found out something lately that took me by surprise.  I finally realized that the thing I like least about quilting is putting borders on.  I like making blocks and putting sashing on. I like binding and quilting but I never realized that the biggest thing that bothers me or stops me from finishing is the borders.  I can be almost finished with a project and I'll put it up for awhile and not finish it. When I look at my project lists, a lot of the unfinished projects just need a final border to be finished.  Hmm, I made up my mind when I realized this that I'm going to stop procrastinating and get over this obstacle.  I pulled two more projects out Saturday and started pulling fabric for them.  I was going to work on them Saturday but didn't get a chance.  I went to sew with a few friends at the church and we worked on charity quilts.  So, when I finally got home, I cut the borders for two of the quilts that were almost finished and started putting the borders on them.  I finished these two quilt tops up Sunday afternoon and they are both now ready for quilting.....I was so pleased with myself and so glad I was able to sew and get these together over the weekend.  So, for the weekend I finished three quilt tops!  Woo hoo, I love it. It was good to get these done.   Do you have a hang up or something that stops you from completing your projects, or is it just me?    Now that it's finally dawned on me that this is one of the things I don't like, I'm going to make sure this doesn't cause me anymore problems.  After all, it's just another step in the process and shouldn't be a stumbling block and I'm going to really work on not letting it affect the process.


   

D4P Number 2 and Slow Stitch Sunday

I decided to go ahead and put the borders on the second D4P quilt today instead of next week. I wanted to get it off the design wall so I could lay out another top and I don't know why but this is the part I hate about quilting. I hate to put the borders on quilts. It is definitely my least favorite thing to do....Well, it is now finished and ready for quilting!  I've got the backing ready for it and the binding already cut.  I've got to get some batting and I'll put it on the machine this week! 

Now, I'm ready to turn on the TV and watch some of the shows I've recorded on my DVR this week.  I'll be sewing the binding on this quilt while relaxing in front of the TV.  I'll show you a glimpse of the quilt just to spark your interest.  This is one of the prettiest quilts I have ever seen.  My friend quilted this for me and she did a wonderful job.  We bartered a little and I did some work for her for the quilting....I am so thrilled to be putting the binding on this one.  I'll be linking up with Kathy over at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Stitch Sunday. 

Get It Done and working on my D9P and D4P

Last night, I worked on my disappearing 4 patch quilt. I have all the rows together except for the last one.  I sewed them together wrong and figured it out when I went to sew it together.  I had to unsew this last row and will resew it together tonight and  finish up the quilt top.  It went together very well and I am really pleased with it so far.  I will put a white on white border around it to frame it then the final border.  I haven't bought the final border fabric yet.  I know what I want but needed to do some measuring first to figure out how much fabric I needed.  I'll probably do that tonight and get the fabric tomorrow if I can find it.  I was planning on using stash fabric but this one is for my granddaughter and it needs to be a certain fabric that I don't have...I'll take a pic tonight and show you my progress on it. 

I also sewed together all the D9P blocks I had ready and I now have 8 rows of it done.  I think it's looking good for a scrap quilt but is turning out darker than I thought it would.  I took a picture of it laid out on the floor but can't upload it until tonight.  I want to add a few more rows to this one before I call this one finished.  I don't plan on this being a big quilt, just lap size. I want to make some of these for the local nursing home.  I have enough fabric to make a few so this first one was an experiment to see if I liked the pattern. I had made the D9P before but not this setting.  I'm definitely making more of these...they are fun and quick and use up fabric that's been laying around far too long. 

I follow Susan at Desert Sky Quilting and she's doing a Get It Done Challenge this year. She lists 4 projects a month to work on. I like that number.  I always work better with a challenge too.  I have alot of tops that need finishing and alot of projects to work on so I'm going to be doing this challenge this year.  I think this challenge actually started over at Judy Laquidara's blog  called Patchwork Times and I'll link up with hers too. Now, to decide what 4 things I want to work on for the February challenge...I'll think about that and list those tonight or tomorrow. 

Sunday Sewing, DP4 quilt and DP9 Quilt and now for some slow Sunday stitching!

I decided to take your advice and make some more blocks.  I thought I would make a few blocks this afternoon and then do some binding or knitting to join in with the Slow Sunday Stitching over at Kathy's Quilts blog.Once I started sewing, I couldn't stop until all my blocks were ready for this quilt!  I cut out more white fabric for my blocks and started sewing the blocks together to make the 4 patches.  I got 52 four patches done.  Out of the 52 four patches I finished 20 DP4's.  I  have already started putting it together and it's going to look great, I think.   I called my husband in to help me put it the blocks on the top of the design wall and asked him about the color arrangement, if I needed to move any around or what have you...He said no, it was ok as is but he also said he didn't like the blocks or the quilt!!!  I told him it would look better once the borders were on it and he said, yeah, I hope so.  Well, I never!!! Imagine that! A quilt he doesn't like.  Oh well, it's not for him anyway.  He usually likes what I do but he doesn't like this one too much at all.  It will look good when the border is put on and quilted and I know he'll change his mind.  Here's a picture of the blocks on the design wall.  I went ahead and did 7 X 9, so it should be big enough with the borders too...

 

I did make more pink today and can't wait to find out what the new color for next month is...

 

 

Here's the leftover 4 patches ready to cut up to make more DP4's.  These are big 4 patches. I'm using 5" squares for them and once cut down they will end up being an 8" block.  I'm enjoying this block and I hope my granddaughters will enjoy the quilts too.

I also did some more big 9 patches for the DP9 QAL. I cut all of those up and  I laid a few blocks out on my cutting board just to see how they were going to look.  I think it will be ok for a scrappy quilt. I used red in the center just to bring them together. I've used all kinds of scraps in this and I can't wait to see what it's going to look like...

 

Ok, I'm through sewing for the day now. I'm going to grab my knitting and sit in front of the TV and watch some shows I've recorded.  I hope you've had a great weekend and have an even greater week.  Until next time, happy quilting!

Rainbow Scrap Saturday, DP4's and DP9's

Today is Rainbow Scrap Saturday and I've been up early working on some pink blocks!  I saw one like this over at Elle's blog and loved it. I've decided to make one like this every month this year with whatever colors Angela picks.  It is a fun and easy block to do and will be a cute little quilt.

 

I also made some more pink blocks for my DP4 patch quilt.....

I was able to do more blocks this week for this quilt too. I've almost got enough for the first quilt...

All the blocks are different so it will be a charm quilt.   It is 6 X 8 now.  These are 8 inch finished blocks.  This makes it 48 X 64 without borders.  This will be for a twin size quilt and I looked and the twin size quilts should be about 68 X 88...My borders will be 6" wide and I think I'll put a white strip all around it first before the outer border and it will be 2 inches.  If I didn't do anymore blocks, that would make it 64 X 80.  Hmm, I guess I better do more blocks.  I want it to hang off the sides a little but not be too big. This is for a 9 year old.  One more row for the sides are bottom?  What do you think?

Earlier in the week I worked on making big 9 patches too for the disappearing 9 patch QAL over at Freda's blog.  These are made with 5" squares I cut out from my Accuquilt Go. I have alot of 5" squares already cut out and I'm going to make several community service quilts out of them. I love the DP9 and thought I'd try it out.  I'm using red fabrics in the centers and anything else in the other squares.  I haven't cut any yet to see if I like them.  Come back later and we'll play!

 

Ok, gotta go for now.  I want to try to sew a little more today so have a fun and productive day!

til next time, happy quilting!

 

 

Two UFO's finished, two Grandmother's choice blocks and my DP4 blocks!

I was able to finish two UFO's this weekend, woo hoo!  I'm so excited.  I had this lovely quilt in my binding stack for months and finally decided to finish it...I wish I would have finished it a long time ago but you know how it is...procrastination, it's an ugly thing!!!

This is a Row by Row quilt. It was a swap that we had in my small quilt group.  Each row, we made 5-10 blocks (whatever the row called for) and we kept one block and exchanged the others.  We did this swap for 7 months (that's how many rows there were) and then we got the instructions and put the quilt together.  This was a fun swap.  I hand quilted this quilt and finished the hand quilting several months ago.  I had to buy extra fabric for the binding and couldn't find the "right" fabric until recently.  I finally found some that I liked and put the finishing touches to this sweet quilt. 

This block I've had on my design board for a long time too.  I took a needle-turn class last year and this is what we made from the class. We learned points, circles and shapes to needle turn.  I quilted this on my machine and did pebble quilting. I've been wanting to try it for awhile and thought this would be just the right size to learn on.  This was alot of fun.

This is block two of the new Barbara Brackman Block of the week, the Grandmother's Choice website. this one is called Amethyst.

This is block three of the BOW-Union Square. I'm up to date now and feel great!

These are my DP4 patches for the rainbow challenge.  I have alot more blocks to do with alot more colors but I'm really liking it so far...

Well, that's it for now.  It's my TV night and I'm going to knit for awhile.  Hopefully, I'll show you some more things later.  til next time, happy sewing.

A few blocks

Yes, I'm still here. I just haven't had time to post anything.  I'm feeling alot better now and I'm so glad!  However, now my husband is sick and believe me, he's a far worst patient than I was....He's kept me hopping too.  I did not have a restful holiday and it's not any better yet.  Hopefully, by this weekend he'll be better and life will get back to normal a little.
I was able to sew a little bit Saturday.  I got the first block done of Barbara Brackmen's new Block of the Week.  The BOW is published again this year on Saturday's.  These are 8 1/2" blocks (8" finished) and you can click on the side of my blog to get there.  Look at the big badge called Grandmother's Choice.  I think she said there will be 49 blocks. Here's my first block...this one is appropriately named Grandmother's Choice.

I also did 8 blocks for my scrap quilt. I started these disappearing 4 patches with the Rainbow challenge earlier in the year. I've fallen behind on these but I'm playing catch up now.  I did some blue blocks, some teal blocks and some plaid blocks. I cut out some orange which is this month's color but didn't get to them yet. I also started working on my monthly 9 patches and just sewed the strips together.  I haven't finished them yet.

Sunday and Monday, I did the buttonhole stitch around some butterfly blocks for my MIL.  She made 20 blocks.  She is reproducing a quilt that she received when she was 16 years old.  She is in her mid 80's now and has a new bed and wanted a new quilt for it. So, she decided to make this butterfly quilt.  I'll give these blocks back to her and she'll put them together. I don't know what sashing or any other fabric she'll be using. When she gets it together, I'll show you again as I'll be quilting it for her.

My machine is finally all together and ready. I'll be putting the first quilt on it Saturday.  I haven't been home long enough this week to  play with it yet.  Tomorrow night, I'll be going to sew and visit with my friends at the church so Saturday will be the first chance I get to do it.  I hope you have a good Friday and a great weekend.  Til next time, happy sewing!

A few things I'm working on this weekend

I hope everyone had a great week.  I've had a good week and gotten a few things going.
I have been quilting on a little quilt for charity and having fun with it.  I finished the quilting on it and now just need to bind it.  I'll show you that little quilt when it's bound. 

Tuesday night was tatting night and I'm back to tatting crosses....so relaxing and fun to do!


Wednesday night, I had to watch DALLAS!  I love it.  JR hasn't changed at all except for his eyebrows getting bushier!  I watched this show years ago and couldn't resist watching it again.  I don't live too far from Southfork Ranch and trust me, it's just a little smaller than what they are saying on the show!  Anyway, it's fun to watch with all the scheming and conniving going on on the show. I hope you guys are enjoying it too....

Last night I went and sewed with some friends at the church.  I forgot to sign up for Heidi and Bobbi's Friday night sew in but I thought about it last night!  I hope all of you had fun sewing together!

I visited with my friends and got a few things done too.  I cut strips for some 9 Patches and sewed the strips together.  I also sewed up a red, white and blue round tablerunner. I saw this on Barbara's blog (Bejeweled) and loved it.  I ordered the fabric from her sister's site, Inchworm Fabrics and got the pattern free.  It was easy and quick to do and I have enough fabric left for one more... I still have to quilt it but it will be next in line. I want to have it on my table for the 4th of July!

Today, I put together 40 purple nine patches for my exchange this month. 

Here's a picture of 80 nine patches together in two sets...they are not sewn together.  I have 40 to sew together now and I'll get 40 more this Thursday too.  I think you call this a postage stamp quilt but I'm not sure.

With my left over fabric from the 9 patches, I put together 4 Disappearing 4 patches but...I cut them the wrong size so I can't use them for the project I intended.  :-(

Oh, well, I'll use them for something along the way.

See how much smaller they are compared to the other DP4 patches I'd done?  I started out with 5 inch squares and found some leftover squares in my UFO box that I thought I used for the project. They were 4 1/2" so I cut the purples down to that size without measuring...Well, duh!   I have a little bit left over so maybe I can make some DP4 in the right size.  I wanted to sew more but the kids are coming over and the baby is waking up so I'll have to stop for now.  Hopefully, I can get some more sewing time in tomorrow afternoon.  Til then, happy sewing!