What am I working on Wednesday? Week 48 - 11.28.12

This has been a very busy week, but even with all I have had to get done, I've accomplished quite a bit of sewing and quilting. I did a lot of procrastinating, since  have 4 long papers due this weekend. Last week I worked on two pieces for a Christmas swap. I got them pieced on Turkey day and on Monday night, so they were both ready to be quilted. I loaded this one on Mon. night and quilted it on Tues. night. I quilted the other one as well. I have them both trimmed and ready for binding. I will have them done before I have this baby... unless he decides he's ready tonight.

Monday night I quilted up this flower and the background fabric for the tablerunner. I did up and down lines which I haven't done in quite a while, but it turned out well. I'm excited to finish this one. I have it all cut apart and the binding on it, but have to finish the binding first before I can go further. It's a store sample.  I quilted it with King Tut and Bottomline both in maroon.


The backing fabric for the tablerunner is black and I quilted it with King Tut and Bottomline both in black.

Tuesday a lady dropped these off to be quilted and I stopped at the store and picked up a top thread to match, only to realized when I got home I didn't have the color bottomline I thought I had, so they were put off until Wed. night. I quilted the first one with Sage green King Tut and a white bottomline with stippling.

Here's a close up of the stippling.

I also did this one in a Sage green King Tut and Bottomline. It is done all in loops.

I love how the loops turned out and the quilting went very quickly and smoothly. I had no errors on this one.

I also pulled a couple fat quarters and made a burp cloth for the baby. I finished this one and I have another one cut out. I'm waiting for another scrap of batting to use to make the other one.


Finished this week:
Burp Cloth,
Quilted 2 Wall Hangings
Quilted 2 swap quilts
Quilted 2 pieces for a store sample
Ongoing projects:Sign Language Diaper Clutch
Deer Diaper Clutches (2)

Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Pink/Green Jungle Animal Baby Quilt - Need to make backing
Confetti Top
Twisted Heart
Merry Go Round
Autumn Star Quilt
Briar Rose
Farmyard Friends
New Projects: NONE!
No progress:
Ed's Crown Royal Quilt

What am I Working on Wednesday? Week 47 11.21.12

This week has been dedicated to baby and preparing for his arrival. Thurs. night after my class I headed to the sewing room and quilted up the baby lone star quilt. I put the binding on it Mon. night and am working on the handwork. I hope to finish it before baby comes. The binding is the same as the 1st border fabric.
Monday night I also worked on finishing up the baby blankets. I had these three all sewn and burped, they just needed topstitching, so I finished that. They are all ready to go!

My favorite is this light blue one with blue minkee on the back. The color is not good in this picture as it is not teal, but rather a baby blue color.

Last night I forced myself to make up the car seat cover. We have one that will work, but I had made a pink camo one for Mikaela and wanted to make a blue camo one for baby boy. I was able to get it done in a couple hours last night. I had the serger and sewing machine both set up and went back and forth between them.

Since I had the serger out I also finished up the boppy pillow cover I had cut out. They are super simple to make, but even more so with the serger, so I finished it!

I also made another serged receiving blanket and topstitched two burp clothes. I cut out 2 more burp clothes, but need a bit of batting to go in them and it was getting late. This weekend I hope to get a sample quilted and maybe a few other projects worked on while I am off for 4 days, but we're headed to my dad's again tomorrow night, so I probably won't be too productive. Have a great weekend and Happy Thanksgiving!

What am I working on this Wednesday? Week 46 11.14.12

This has been a very productive 2 weeks! I have gotten a bit more rearranging done in the bedroom and set up a temporary work space that I've been able to sew in pretty regularly. I finished up this UFO of 2 ribbon blankets. I made one with ribbons and one without. They are from a Wrenly charm pack.

I gave the ribboned one to my co-worker Jody when she brought her new baby Laura Ann in to see us yesterday. It felt great to get these made and finished!

I also finished up these three mug rugs and gave them to my co-workers. I've had them made for over a year, just hadn't put the binding on and it took me less than 2 hours to do the binding on all 3! So 2 UFO's finished and out the door! It feels awesome!

On Saturday the 3rd I taught a lone/radiant star class to a couple friends. They both got half their stars done. Since there were just the two of them, I took my machine and piecemealed this back together for my star quilt. It's all the leftovers from the quilts my mom and I made. It's so not my style, but it will be a fun back for a kids quilt. The green at the bottom probably won't be in the quilt back, but I needed enough room to attach it to the frame, so I added it on.

Last week I started to freak out about having no receiving blankets for our baby boy who is due in 4 weeks. I made about 8 baby receiving blankets on the serger and have a few that need topstitching, but I also pieced together this top. It is just an 8" wide border with mitered corners. It went together really quick... like less than hour. I have a backing ready for it, so when I get a chance I can get it on the frame.

Last night through pure determination, I was able to get my quilt frame set up! I am so excited that it set up, but I couldn't just let it set. I wanted to check tension and make sure I was having good luck, so I pulled out a UFO of table toppers/ runners that just needed quilting and the backing fabric I had for it. Mom made these 60* table runners a couple years ago, or had them cut out and I pieced them together last year, but didn't get them finished. I only finished the red ones, so these all have green backing.  I pulled out some scrap batting and set to work.
I quilted the top three with a green/gold/maroon Rainbows thread and the bottom left one with a King Tut in the same colors. I wanted to be able to show the difference in polyester and cotton thread and how they make a difference in your quilting. I have the two on the left with binding partially on, so I can show how to finish putting on the binding in the class I teach tonight.

Finished this week:
3 Mug Rugs
2 Ribbon blankets
Quilted 4 table runners
Top of farmyard baby quilt
Ongoing projects:Sign Language Diaper Clutch
baby boy receiving blankets 5 done, 3 need topstitching
Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Pink/Green Jungle Animal Baby Quilt - Need to make backing
Confetti Top
Twisted Heart
Merry Go Round
Autumn Star Quilt
Briar Rose
Farmyard Friends
Cowboy Star Quilt
New Projects: NONE!
No progress:
Ed's Crown Royal Quilt

What am I working on Wednesday? Week 44 10.31.12

The last two weeks have been very busy! Although it doesn't seem like I got a lot of sewing done, I actually did quite a bit. Last Wed. night I finished up the Briar Rose Quilt top. It looks gorgeous and I am so excited to quilt it. I have the backing fabric already and I just need the frame set up again.

I also sewed together the strip sets for my star quilt. I pressed them on Thurs. night. and cut them out. It was still early so I started sewing them together. I got half of the star diamonds done.


Monday night I put the rest of the star diamonds together and sewed them into a top.  Last night before I got home, Paul finished the flooring in the kids room! Now he just has to put up the base and we can start moving the furniture around. I'm so excited! I can finally set my sewing machine back up.
Last night I added the setting triangles and then it was still early, so I put on the borders. The borders really finished the quilt for me! 
The borders are from my mom's stash. I had only enough of the final border to make it 4.5", but I love it. Mom used this same fabric for the background of her star. I have some of the first border that I will use in the backing. It's going to be a pieced back with a lot of scraps! I'm definately using up mom's stash.

This is my center point. It's not the best picture, but I was trying to show how my seams met perfectly! I didn't baste or re-sew it, it came out perfect the first time.

This is mom's star quilt that she did back in 2009. I gave it to my brother.



Finished this week:
Briar Rose Top
Star Quilt Top
Ongoing projects: Sign Language Diaper Clutch, baby blankets
Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Pink/Green Jungle Animal Baby Quilt - Need to make backing
Confetti Top
Twisted Heart
Merry Go Round
Autumn Star Quilt
Briar Rose
New Projects: NONE!
No progress:
Ed's Crown Royal Quilt
Dilly Dally Baby Girl Quilt

WIP Wednesday Week 42 10.17.12

This week has been another crazy one for me. The floor is still not finished after we spent the weekend at dad's helping him. Paul's making slow progress on it, a box or so each night. So my machine has not come out of the bag. I am seriously going stir crazy!
Last night I taught a UFO class. I had a really great lecture, ideas, etc. planned and one lady was sick, the other two I know really well and they just wanted to sew and visit, so that's what we did. I was really surprised with no one wanting to take the class, as Christmas is coming soon. It's a great finish it up kind of class. I did help both of them figure out how to get a UFO gone wrong finished. Kay Lynn finished all her blocks and is ready to lay out and sew her quilt top together next time and Heather laid out, basted, and quilted her quilt top. She even got it squared up. On the other hand since they were both content with what they were doing, I laid out my Briar Rose Quilt. I had no intentions of doing it, but it was a UFO I brought to talk about. Once I had it ready to sew, I used a class machine and sewed it together. It's turning out great and I just have to sew rows together now. It really helped to do some machine sewing and I feel like I accomplished a lot! We had a great night talking about UFO's and they did learn a few things. Next week we're going to make project bags.
So this is how far I got on Briar Rose. LOVE it! Can't wait to finish it.


Finished this week:
Mikaela's scrapbook - does that count?? Not much sewing here.
Ongoing projects:  (and progress this week on them)
Sign Language Diaper Clutch
Batik Scrappy Quilt - Laid out and sewn into rows
Hugs & Kisses Batik quilt -
Hugs & Kisses Scrappy Quilt
Swoon -

Quilts Needing Hand sewing on Binding

Mocha Meringue Wonder Blocks- worked on binding.

Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Pink/Green Jungle Animal Baby Quilt - Need to make backing
Confetti Top - At the shop
Twisted Heart - At the shop
Merry Go Round - Needs backing made.
Autumn Star Quilt - needs backing

New Projects:

No progress:
Ed's Crown Royal Quilt
Dilly Dally Baby Girl Quilt

This week's stats:
Completed projects -0
New projects -0
Currently in progress -5
Finished this year - 55, 12 Samples

I'm linking up for WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

WIP Wednesday Week 41 10.10.12

I am going stir crazy this week! We tore out the carpet in the extra room on Saturday, so all of my sewing stuff is packed up and in numerous places around the house. Paul is putting hardwood laminate down in the room and it's taking longer than I expected. Luckily I had most of my stuff gathered for class tonight so I didn't have to dig too much. I haven't been able to sew all week and it's driving me mad, especially since this was the last weekend I didn't have homework to do. Class started again and now I'm swamped with getting several papers done before Sunday and we're going to be out of town.
This week I am working on the binding of the Mocha Meringue quilt. I have about 1 1/2 sides done.I left it at work, thinking the floor would be done on Sat. and I'd get to sew on Sunday. I didn't get to do any sewing!  It's been cold, so we've stayed inside on breaks, so I did get a bit of handwork done on it. Still a ways to go though. I did finish the Blush quilt binding, so I feel at least a small bit got accomplished.

Thursday night while I still had the sewing machine up I worked on block 3 of my Swoon quilt. I feel like I've gotten lots accomplished on this quilt since I made kits up for it last week. I did have to unpick a few seams and re-do a few blocks for this one, but it turned out nicely. The picture was taken with my phone and lighting isn't good, but the block is done!

While I haven't been able to sew this week, I thought I would use the time to be productive and "scrapbook" Mikaela's first year. I use the term loosely because my friend made me like 50 pages and ALL I had to do was cut out the pictures and glue them on. My hand hurt so bad after about 25 pages and running out of glue that I quit on Sat. I nursed my sore hand all weekend and can finally use it again. I've used the last few nights on the computer to pick through my pictures and organize them by month, started writing on the backs with the dates taken, and uploaded somewhere near 400 pictures to Walgreens.com to print when they go on sale a bit cheaper. Almost 100 of those were quilt related pictures to put in my quilt journals, which I have seriously neglected the past year as well. I finally uploaded all my July-Sept. pictures to my external hard drive as well. I feel like I'm making headway, but need to get more glue and get back to work on the scrapbook. I'm really irritated with Webshots and the changes they've made, so I need to figure out how to manage my pictures better so they are still easy to blog with. 

Finished this week:
Blush Quilt

Ongoing projects:  (and progress this week on them)
Sign Language Diaper Clutch
Batik Scrappy Quilt - All the blocks and edge pieces sewn!
Hugs & Kisses Batik quilt -
Hugs & Kisses Scrappy Quilt
Swoon - Sewed 1 block and kitted 6 more.

Quilts Needing Hand sewing on Binding

Mocha Meringue Wonder Blocks- worked on binding.

Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Pink/Green Jungle Animal Baby Quilt - Need to make backing
Confetti Top - At the shop
Twisted Heart - At the shop
Merry Go Round - Needs backing made.
Autumn Star Quilt - needs backing

New Projects:

No progress:
Ed's Crown Royal Quilt - Started sashing - Need to get a move on, he's getting married
Dilly Dally Baby Girl Quilt

This week's stats:
Completed projects - 1
New projects -
Currently in progress -5
Finished this year - 55, 12 Samples

I'm linking up for WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

Swoon Blocks

I'm actually further along on my Swoon quilt than I once thought! I pulled out the block roll-up that I had my finished blocks in and realized I had 3 in there and not 2. I'm so excited. I planned to make a larger block roll-up, but hadn't quite found the fabric i wanted for the outside. However, as I was doing this I realized Jen sent me a yard of a really cool quilting fabric and it would be perfect to use for this since she taught me how to make the roll-ups in the first place. I'll have to find my flannel now.
This is the first Swoon block I made. I just wasn't crazy about it. So I decided to reverse the colors. I'll use this one as a wall hanging or table topper since it won't go in the finished quilt.


This is the second one I made with the colors reversed and I liked it a lot better!

The orange one I didn't remember making, but now that I think about it when I couldn't get the teal on to work at club I did the orange one.

Last night I fixed all the errors and figured out how to press all the seams, so I can make these blocks. I used my design wall in the bedroom, which is really dark, so the pictures turned out dark. I love how these blocks are turning out and can't wait to finish making all of them.

Swoon Kits

Swoon is in the bag! Okay, that's more literal then true. It's in baggies and ready to be sewn. I have been putting off working on my Swoon quilt for quite a while. I started it in March. We had a Swoon party at Gaila's and she's finished with her quilt. I worked on it in April or May at Club Sew, sewed too many of the wrong squares together and knew I had to rip, so I quit. Quite literally I put it in the bag and left it there, never to be worked on again. However, this week I've seen a lot of Swoon posts on Flicker and decided to pull it out again. When Emilee and I started Swoon we were going to do it as a BOM and have it finished by the end of the year. Well that's not happening, since I haven't worked on mine in months. I don't think Emilee has either. So I figured what better way than to pull it out and take it to work. Over the last several days at lunch, I have re-done the directions, un-sewed the blocks, and cut out kits for each of the remaining 7 blocks. However I soon realized I was cutting out for 7, but actually have 2 finished and 1 partially finished that doesn't need a kit. I've cut a few things wrong, but still have enough to be able to finish cutting out the kits. I put them all in baggies, so I can work on a block a week or so until I have all the blocks done. At least I know all the pieces are included and they are ready to start! It's such a good feeling to have these ready to go and be able to sew on them when I have time.
 

Our sewing room/bedroom switch happened over the weekend and I have all my sewing stuff in the laundry room, with the exception on my machines. I set up a temp space in the upstairs bedroom so I can sew at night until we get the hardwood flooring put in this weekend. My quilt frame also made it into that room to await the flooring. I'm really happy that I was able to have it there and not in the garage. So I'm keeping busy and continue to nest as well. It's surprising how much stuff you realize you have when you start moving. I just keep telling myself I got rid of 12 totes of stuff!

WIP Wednesday 10.3.12 Week 40

This was a big week for us! We on a whim Saturday night moved my sewing room out of its current location downstairs and moved the frame up to the kids room. In the process I set up a temp sewing space in the kids room until we get the flooring finished and worked on my Briar Rose quilt. I had completely screwed up the last step, so Monday I ripped out all the corner pieces, re-cut the edge pieces, and re-sewed them all. It took me all of Monday, but I got all the edging pieces done. Last night I sewed the X blocks together and then put the pieces on my design wall to see how it would look. I just have my artist canvas design wall, so no edging pieces yet. I think I'm going to love it. I haven't ripped or re-sewn that much in years, but it had to be done.

Thursday night I pulled out this Bargello table runner mom had made. I squared it up, which is this picture. Friday night, I added snowflakes and binding and while I was waiting for the teachers preview party Sat. morning, I sewed the binding down on the runner. It is now done, unless I decide to stitch over the snowflakes.

I got quite a few finishes done, just because I spent a lot of time hand sewing. I put the binding on the Mocha Meringue quilt and worked on the Blush binding. I have 1 side of the Blush quilt yet to finish the handwork on. 
Finished this week:
Bargello Table Runner
LHeartT Table Topper
Cre8tive Swap w/Jen

Ongoing projects:  (and progress this week on them)
Sign Language Diaper Clutch
Batik Scrappy Quilt - All the blocks and edge pieces sewn!
Hugs & Kisses Batik quilt - sewed a couple stratas
Hugs & Kisses Scrappy Quilt
Swoon - 2 Blocks done - Going to start cutting this one out and working on it again. Going to make kits for each block and re-write the directions so I can sew them quicker.

Quilts Needing Hand sewing on Binding
Blush Quilt  - quilted!
Mocha Meringue Wonder Blocks- needs binding

Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Pink/Green Jungle Animal Baby Quilt - Need to make backing
Confetti Top - At the shop
Twisted Heart - At the shop
Merry Go Round - Needs backing made.
Autumn Star Quilt - needs backing

New Projects:

No progress:
Ed's Crown Royal Quilt - Started sashing - Need to get a move on, he's getting married
Dilly Dally Baby Girl Quilt

This week's stats:
Completed projects - 3
New projects -
Currently in progress -5
Finished this year - 54, 12 Samples

I'm linking up for WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

WIP Wednesday Week 39 9.26.12

This week simply flew by! I tried to jam pack a lot into it with Dad's wedding on Friday and then catching up at home during the weekend. We're getting ready to move rooms around for the new baby, so my quilt frame has to come down. I decided I wanted to finish up a couple more quilts. Monday night I quilted this Mocha Meringue quilt that I plan to use in the nursing room at work. 

I'm preparing for a UFO class I'm teaching in Oct. so I sorted all my UFO's out and gathered them together in the closet my grandpa built me. This is about 36" high and 12" deep by 24" wide, so it has room for about 20 UFO's which are my most current ones.

I also quilted up this little table topper which is a UFO of my mom's. I plan to give it to my dad. Nothing fancy, but it's his brand and it's done.

I did a gold/maroon/green King Tut on it with a simple meander.


Last night I started taking the frame apart. It was a lot of work! I got the right side taken down and I think we'll leave it like this for now. It will be a lot less hassle. I washed all the leaders for it and it's ready to be moved when we get ready. The machine is all packed up in one of the Tutto's on the floor.


Sunday was my SIL to be's baby shower. She's having a boy the end of Oct. and so I gave her the Trucks baby quilt. She really liked it.

My aunt gave her a blanket made with jeans from my grandpa, grandma, mom, and dad. It turned out pretty cool and she embroidered their names on the jeans. It's a rag quilt.


Finished this week:

Ongoing projects:  (and progress this week on them)
Sign Language Diaper Clutch
Batik Scrappy Quilt - Sewed all the 2.5" squares to the corners, now to trim and press
Hugs & Kisses Batik quilt
Hugs & Kisses Scrappy Quilt
Mocha Meringue Wonder Blocks- needs binding

Quilts Needing Hand sewing on Binding Blush Quilt  - quilted!
Cre8tive Swap w/ Jen - Quilted
LT Table topper

Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Pink/Green Jungle Animal Baby Quilt - Need to make backing
Confetti Top - At the shop
Twisted Heart - At the shop
Merry Go Round - Needs backing made.
Autumn Star Quilt - needs backing

New Projects:

No progress:
Ed's Crown Royal Quilt - Started sashing - Need to get a move on, he's getting married
Dilly Dally Baby Girl Quilt
Swoon - 2 Blocks done

This week's stats:
Completed projects -
New projects -
Currently in progress - 5
Finished this year - 51, 12 Samples

I'm linking up for WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!