Maddie's latest quilt

I finished up the binding on Maddie's quilt today.  It never takes as long as I am dreading that it will.  I've got the label printed up and am waiting for it to dry before I sew it on.  Maddie is looking forward to giving it to her friend tomorrow morning. 

The quilting always ends up being much denser than I imagined - but Maddie was thrilled with it - so I'm happy!

And here is the quilter herself.  I can't figure out why - but she hates having her picture taken.  Silly girl!

Looking forward to getting to do some of my own sewing next week!

As the summer slips away...

How did it get to be the end of June?  So far this summer we have spent almost a week at my parents' house and we just got back from a week in Colorado.  Me and the kids were able to tag along with my husband while he attended a national architectural convention.  We tacked a few days onto the end to go up into the mountains.  We even found the nerve to drive up to the top of Pike's Peak.  I had my head buried in Stacy's shoulder for the last 5 miles of the drive.  I'm not good with heights!

Before we left Maddie decided she wanted to make another Thank You quilt for a girl we go to church with that served in the Army for several years.  She decided not to do the typical red, white, and blue.  We found out her favorite colors are blue and green.  We found the perfect pattern on Crazy Mom Quilts.  The pattern is called  Movin' on Up  and it is a great tutorial!  Maddie had no problems following the directions.

She pieced the top in two days and then was all over me to get it quilted.  It had to wait till we got back from Colorado - but now it is done and the binding is half way on.  She is hoping to give it to our friend on Sunday.

And last, but certainly not least, my sweet neighbor and friend April came over tonight to give me a belated birthday present.  I was shocked when I opened it!

 

She had a friend of theirs make this mosaic for me!! My favorite colors and my favorite quilt block - flying geese!!!  I love it SO much!  Now to find a special place for it in the sewing room.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

 

Shameful

How did it get be May 31st already?

I have been sewing some - not nearly as much as I would like of course.   One of first finishes of the year was the scrappy trip quilt.  I love how this quilt turned out!  It now lives on our couch and gets used daily.

Sorry for the bad picture - but blurry is what happens with two wiggly quilt holders!  I definitely see another one of these in my future .  Thanks, Bonnie, for another great pattern!

My next finish was my Soul Blossoms quilt.  Over two years ago I bought a fat quarter pack of Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms fabric .  Then I had to stew a while over what to do with it.  I wanted a pattern with big enough pieces to show off the fabric.   I ended up doing big bow tie blocks.  Then I went crazy with the quilting. In the outside border, I used a light gray thread and did spiral quilting.  In the bow ties I used the gray thread again and did kind of zig-zagged back and forth .  Then I lost my mind and did pebbles in the open white space.  Talk about time consuming.  And eats up the thread like crazy!  But in the end - I LOVE IT!!  It was worth every minute!!

And one of my favorite parts is the back!  I used all my leftovers ( the middle portion) and had to order some extra yardage - but I love how it turned out!!

Another finish for the spring was my St. Louis 16-patch.  This one was a quilt-along on Instagram.  If you are on Instagram - I am "mamaisquilting"!  I did my 16-patch all in blues.  I'm sure Nina is shocked!

This block is super fast and lots of fun.

Again I did a meandering swirly pattern for the quilting.

I've got more quilts to show later!

My Bonnie moment

I have often wondered what it would be like to be Bonnie Hunter, zig zagging across the USA, teaching her wonderful classes. She often describes her huge duffel bags, packed with quilts. Quilts can get quite heavy! I have recently had the chance to haul my own heavy bags of quilts around.

A couple of weeks ago, I subbed for a second grade teacher on a Monday. They were just starting a new reading passage that week and it was titled "A Quilt Story". The story was about a little girl who felt more at home in a new place because she had her beloved quilt with her. Anyway...several kids in the class had no idea what the difference between a blanket and a quilt is.

I talked to the teacher and told her I would be glad to bring in a few quilts and do a little presentation for the kids. She was so excited!

When I came in, I started off by asking them if they knew what scraps were - and got a great explanation! I went on to show them scraps, some batting, and some orphan blocks. I had them guess the name of a few blocks - a log cabin block, flying geese, and a spiderweb block. I explained how I would take blocks and piece them into a quilt top.

At this point I showed them my scrappy trips top and asked them to guess how many little squares were in this top. They were all very surprised when I finally gave them the correct answer of 900!

I showed them several different quilts and got lots of oohs and aahs. They asked great questions like how long it takes to make a quilt. I showed them a picture of my featherweight and of my long arm machine. They thought it was funny that my sewing machine is almost twenty years older than me - and they think I am old.  

I did three presentations last week and did my last one this morning.  It has been a lot of fun sharing my quilts with these kids. One little girl has repeatedly come up to me and asked me to please teach her to sew!

The New Obsession

What do you get when you are able to sit home for 6 days straight while caring for your child that has the flu? Lots of sewing time! When her fever was up, she wanted me to cuddle with her on the couch - but otherwise I was free to be in the next room, taking care of my new obsession, the scrappy trips blocks found on Bonnie's site. I finished 25 blocks and decided to go ahead and make a lap size quilt. It is about 60 inches square and has 900 squares in it! I really like how it turned out.

Unfortunately, I am left with a huge pile of left-over strips - which are still calling my name - but I am going to press onto other projects!  I might have to use another of Bonnie's ideas and use the strips as a leader/ender project.  

I ordered myself some goodies last week - a small fat-quarter pack of Tula Pink's Salt Water fabric in the blue colorway.  Love it!  The polka dots on the bottom are from Riley Blake.  I also ordered the dots in another blue color and gray.  I am planning on using the Salt Water fabric to make myself yet another lap quilt - maybe a Yellow Brick Road pattern - so I can use every last square inch!  

Drum Roll, please!

Sorry I left you all hanging yesterday - but my daughter seems to have contracted the plague.  It came on very suddenly yesterday around lunch time and she spent the rest of the day leaning against me, moaning "I don't feel good!"   She sounds even worse today and her fever is up a little bit.

Anyway - the lovely random number generator picked number 9 - which means Anne Bebbington of the UK wins!  Anne's tip is:  
Here in the UK very few quilters are lucky enough to have sufficient room in their house to have a long arm quilting machine so most machine quilting is done on the same domestic machine that they use to make the tops. With a large quilt the bulk of the quilt sandwich can often drag and pull the work from under the machine needle - positioning your ironing board beside you at the same level as your machine bed gives you an extra surface to support all that bulk and prevent dragging - I've just machine quilted a 90" square in this way and it's a real help.

Anne - if you will email or FB message me your mailing address and your choice of color, I will get some fabric in the mail to you this week.

Have you seen the latest sewing craze sweeping through the internet?  It is Bonnie's Scrappy Trip around the world!    Check some out here,  or here,  or here, or here!  I resisted as long as I could - but now I have fallen hard!  I have decided to make this a year long project.  I'm going through my fabric boxes pulling out the pieces that are too big for the scrap bin but too small to be very useful.  You need strips that are 2.5"x16".  I am cutting mine at about 16.5" to give myself a little safety net.   Besides pulling out the pieces for these blocks, I am pulling out any fabrics that would be appropriate for a QOV.   Making a little room in the fabric boxes is always a good thing!   Have you gotten in on this craze yet?

I am off to sew one more block before husband and son get home from church - hopefully bringing us some lunch.   The sick one is watching Dr. Who on my iPad and I can sneak away!

  

400thPost and a Giveaway!

Who knew that in August 2005 that I wouldn't run out of things to say before now?  I am sure that Nina knew!   For over 7 years, I have rambled about my quilting and my life in general.   Back then I had a 6 year old and a 4 year old.  Now they are a whole lot bigger!   Maddie has made several quilts of her own!  

This first one she made for a friend who was being deployed to Iraq.  Thankfully he is back home safe.
 

 The second one was for her language arts class - they were reading Treasure Island.  Her teacher was amazed - especially when Maddie told her she could keep it!

Her most recent quilt was made for a friend who was recovering from a serious surgery.  The friend is a huge Alabama fan - so it took all of Maddie's love to make her this quilt.  Maddie is an Auburn girl!  

Ian, on the other hand, hasn't wanted to make a quilt - yet.  Although he always happy to be the recipient of one!  His latest present was his NY Giants quilt for Christmas.  

 

 Well, in honor of my 400th post, I want to do a giveaway.  To the winner, I will mail 10 fat quarters of fabric from my stash.  You will get to choose the color!  About the only colors that are missing are purple and orange.  Stop snickering, Nina!  Or you can choose a rainbow if you prefer.  I promise you won't be disappointed!   All you have to do is leave me a comment telling me your favorite quilting tip.   

If you want an extra entry,  share a link to the giveaway on your Facebook page and then come back and tell me you have done so.
I'll draw a name on Saturday, January 5th.

Good luck! 
 

2013 UFO List

Even though Judy, over at Patchwork Times, is changing the way she is doing things for 2013 - I am going to stick with the process we used in 2012.  It worked well for me!  I finished or made significant progress on 11 different projects - which included finishing 10 quilts!  The only unfinished project is the Soul Blossoms quilt - which will hopefully be finished in January. 

So to keep me motivated to keep working on these UFOs - here is my list for 2013.  

1.  Soul Blossom quilt - Bow tie in a circle

2.  Orphan blocks

3.  Whipstitch fabric baby quilt

4.  Jewel Box quilt

5.  Ryan Walsh Christmas zig-zag 

6.  Bonnie and Camille fabric

7.  Wild flying geese quilt


8.  Maddie's dress quilt 

9.  Hand-dyed fabric quilt top/ table runners

10.  QOV

11.  QOV

12.  QOV

So who will join me in getting rid of more UFOs in 2013?   May everyone have a wonderful New Year!


 

      

Final UFO progress for 2012

Subbing a whole lot in September, October, and November cut into my sewing time. Ian was sick the week of Thanksgiving - so I had a forced week long vacation. I was able to make some progress on my Soul Blossoms quilt. I have had this fabric for two years now - and have changed my mind about what to do with it almost a dozen times. My first idea was to do a Fig Tree & company pattern called Boardwalk. Has anyone else out there attempted this pattern? I didn't have the brain capacity to get through that one. So what to do with several already pieced blocks. Several other patterns caught my attention but nothing seemed just right. I finally came across a picture of quilt that I knew was "IT" - it was a bow tie block set with the bow ties forming a circle. I love it! The blocks are all pieced and even sewn into groups of four . Maybe I can get the top put together before New Year's!

We survived Christmas 2012

We made it safely home yesterday from our trip to Tennessee.  We got to see some snow without getting snowed in.  We got to enjoy several fires in the fireplace.  And of course, we got to enjoy lots of time with the family.  

We opened presents on Monday evening and the boys were all thrilled with their quilts.  Ian had not realized that I had even started on his quilt - so he was very surprised to receive his!   Mom and Dad handed down many family heirlooms again this year.  My nephew received a knife my grandfather carried during WW2 and Ian received my other grandfather's dogtags from WW2.   My mom kept having me and my sister open our gifts at the same time.  One gift I opened was a red holiday table runner, placemats, and napkins that were my Mimi's.  Meanwhile my sister is opening a vintage butter dish that I have been lusting over for several years.  Naomi looks at with a funny look and my mom says "Haven't you been asking for this for years?"   No - that was me!  Anyway - my sister was kind enough to trade presents with me!

Mom also made us each a wreath.  I decided to try mine out as a necklace.  What do you think?
 

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season!  We have another week off until we return to school and I am hoping to get some sewing in!

Waiting for the FedEx man

A few weeks ago, my sister relayed a message from my nephew, Isaac.  He wanted me to know that he wants a Green Bay Packers blanket for Christmas.  I assumed he meant a fleece blanket like my kids have.  No, he wants a quilt.  And his little brother wants a quilt too.  And not to be left out, my son wants a NY Giants quilt.  Well, sure - I have nothing else to do between now and Christmas!  First I have to order the NFL fabric because nowhere in our little town carries it.  Wait several days for that to arrive and then head to Hobby Lobby to buy matching solids to go along.   I have two of the three tops pieced, so it is time to think about backing.  My Hobby Lobby doesn't have any gray Kona so I find some at a great price online at JoAnn's - and now I am waiting for my FedEx man to bring it to me.

In the mean time, I decided to get busy quilting my mom's spiderweb quilt that has been sitting here since the beginning of October.  Now I can return it to her when we head to their house in a couple of weeks.   I quilted it with all over free-hand baptist fans. I think it is neat how she did her "stars" in alternating colors.
 

 
After I finished Mom's quilt, I went ahead and pinned my spiderweb quilt onto the machine - while I was on a roll.  Mine I am quilting with a random spiral.   It is taking longer than I expected but I should be done by the time the backing fabric arrives.  

What are you working on?  Christmas presents?  We are supposed to get more seasonal weather this coming week.  The past 9 days have been 70 degrees or warmer.  Crazy!  

I can't count!

Or maybe it is Blogger that can't count.  When I posted my last post, it showed that it was post # 399.  This past Sunday I got online, all ready to do a big #400 post giveaway, only to discover that Blogger was counting several draft posts in it's count.  So after deleting these, I am down to only 394 posts.   Imagine a sad face!  Anyway - I am hoping to be a good blogger and get myself back up to post # 400 in time for the new year.

What have I been working on lately?

This quilt is made from the left over Denyse Schmidt fabric from my Swoon quilt.  And there were still leftovers after this one - enough to cut a fat-eighth bundle for a friend's birthday and make a baby quilt and have a pile of squares left sitting here!  Maybe it is miraculous fabric - it replenishes itself when I am not looking.  This problem is not helped by the fact that Denyse keeps coming out with more adorable fabrics for JoAnn's.  Yes, I bought a few more half yard cuts a few weeks ago.  

Anyway - this quilt was made for my sister for her birthday.  She is always trying to steal my Denyse Schmidt quilt off my couch.  I have to frisk her before she leaves my house - because she would take it with her if I wasn't paying close attention.  To try and remedy this problem, I made her own DS quilt.   Happy birthday, Naomi!

These table runners are made from more leftovers!  The border fabrics and the red fabrics are all from the Christmas table runners that I made for my mom, sister, and myself last year for Christmas.  These two were made for my two sweet neighbors (and sewing buddies!).  I gave them to them last week so they could enjoy them during the entire Christmas season.    April has already sent me a text picture of her dining room table, adorned with the green table runner.  

After two months of too much substitute teaching, I am enjoying some nice quiet time at home... in my sewing room...doing whatever I want!  I will share more in the next few weeks!

Is Blogger misbehaving for anyone else?  I just did spell check before publishing this post and it highlighted about a dozen words - but only partial words.  For instance, it high-lighted MYSEL but not the f.  What's up with that?  Wierd!

  

Winner, winner, turkey dinner!

I had my lovely assistant, otherwise known as Madeleine, draw a name out of a bowl. And the name chose was Elizabeth - also known as Gramsy. I was a little worried that someone would think this is rigged - but since I am related to two of the five commenters and another one is my sweet neighbor and another is a friend - I guess there was no getting around knowing the winner. So congratulations to Gramsy ! I will try to stick the box in the mail on Monday.

I also noticed that my 400th post will be my next post! I think that calls a really good giveaway !

Have a great weekend!

Thanksgiving day giveaway ??

I hope all my American friends are enjoying a Thanksgiving day filled with family and friends and of course, lots of yummy food. We had a small mishap already this morning - the turkey that has been sitting in the frig since Monday afternoon is still mostly frozen . So the turkey is now taking a nice bath in some cool water to help the thawing along. In the meantime, I have kept busy piecing the backs for a couple of surprise Christmas gifts. I have a good sized pile of left overs from these table runners - which were pieced from the leftovers of the table runners I made for my mom and sister last Christmas ! If you are interested in these scraps , leave me a comment telling me what you are most thankful for today! I'll pick a random number on Saturday to decide the winner.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I

Scraps, anyone?

I have a small USPS flat rate box filled with scraps from Denyse Schmidt's fabrics from JoAnn's.  Most pieces are bigger than 2 inches - but this is what remains from 2 quilts and cutting 3.5" squares for a third quilt.  These pieces would be great for crumb blocks ala Bonnie Hunter!

First one to speak up gets them!

September's first finish!

It's done!  It's done!  It's done!!!!

I have been wanting to have my Swoon quilt on my bed all summer - but it is just now finished.  I was able to assemble the first row of blocks back on my sewing day for my birthday in June and then it just sat there, haunting me.  A few weeks ago I finally assembled the rest of the top and then had to decide what to do about the quilting.  Originally a friend was going to quilt it with a baptist fan pattern on her huge Gammill with a Statler stitcher.  Then she had the nerve to move to Utah in July.  I could have mailed it to her - but it is a huge quilt and since the background on the top and the entire backing are made of Kona cotton, I decided it would be too wrinkled by the time it got there.  So then how do I quilt it here, on my long-arm?  I really  wanted Baptist fans.  Was I brave enough to try them free-hand?   Nina does beautiful free-hand baptist fans.  She gave me several pep talks via email and I practiced on a small 1 yard square practice piece - and then just went for it.  This quilt is HUGE - almost 100" x 100"!   I love how it turned out.  It is in the washer now and will be on my bed tonight!

All photos should be clickable.   Now to quilt my yellow spiderweb quilt!  

August was very productive!

I wasn't very hopeful about getting much done in August because of several planned trips and then the start of school - but I was wrong!  I began the month with an internal debate about whether I was even going to finish my August UFO.  It was a small applique tree project - very little time invested in it so far and very little fabric - mostly scraps.  Eventually I dragged it out and was surprised to finish top stitching all the leaves in only about half an hour.  Then I pinned it onto the long arm and did a tiny little meander in all the open space.  I also echo stitched around the leaves and the trunk to help hold the batting in place - and it made the back of the project much more exciting.  I ended up loving this little project - but I sent it off to live at my sister's house.  She couldn't believe I was willing to share it!

 

Since the first project was such a quick finish, I moved onto another UFO - my Christmas table runner.  I had started three of these table runners last year before Christmas - one for my mom, sister, and myself.  It came down to the end and I had to give up on mine and just get theirs done.  Again I was surprised at how little there was left to do.  The biggest problem came in putting on the outside borders.  The outside borders measure almost 60 inches and I didn;t have enough yardage to do it legnth-wise - so I had to piece them.  And I couldn't seem to measure correctly and kept coming up with a border that was too short!   Eventually I got it done!

I made a lot of progress on other projects as well.  I got my Swoon quilt top put together and quilted with free-hand baptist fans (thanks to Nina!!)  She cheered me on and told me I could do it!  I think she was just nervous that I would stick this huge quilt in a huge box and mail it her to quilt for me!  I love how the baptist fans turned out.  Now it is sitting on my sewing table, waiting for me to tackle the binding.

I also got my yellow spiderweb top put together.  My mom and I  have managed to get some quality sewing time this summer.  We set up our sewing machines on the dining room table and got busy!  I can't wait to get this top quilted and washed up and on the couch!

My September UFO is to use my Denyse Schmidt fabric.  Technically speaking - the Swoon quilt will count for this - but I also have another secret project in the works.   More on this after the recipient gets her present.   

Are you getting your UFO's completed?