WIP Wednesday Week 26 6.27.12

This has been a great week! I got a lot accomplished and I feel like my sewing room is being destashed. The preview party for classes for next quarter went great on Saturday and I'm really looking forward to some great classes this summer/fall. Since I had to work on Saturday, Paul took Mikaela fishing with his family. I had the whole afternoon to myself and while it was hot, it was okay in my studio. I got to quilt! I loaded the sign language baby quilt and got it quilted. I used minkee on the back with a thermore batting which I love for baby quilts.


It turned out really cute with the loops and I was able to get it squared up and the yellow binding on last night, so I started doing the hand sewing today during lunch. I just love the feel of this quilt and how easy it is to snuggle under.

On Saturday I also pulled out the fabric for the back of my friendship quilt. I got the backing made and it's ready to load on the frame. I also plan to put thermore in this quilt as well. I just didn't get time this week to load it, but it's all ready and waiting on the frame.
Tonight and tomorrow night I am teaching Beginning Machine Quilting. I have a full class and am really looking forward to it. It's one of my favorite classes to teach and it always turns out different every time I teach it.
Finished this week:
Sign Language Baby Quilt 2 - Quilted and binding done

Ongoing projects:  (and progress this week on them) 
Swoon - 2 Blocks done
Dilly Dally Baby Girl Quilt
Pink/Brown Friendship Quilts -Handwork on binding
Buggy Barn Pink/Brown Extra Blocks -Binding
Cre8tive Swap w/ Jen
Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Blush Quilt 
Pink/Green Jungle Animal Baby Quilt
Confetti Top
Friendship Block Swap Top
Twisted Heart
Merry Go Round

No progress:
Mocha Meringue Wonder Blocks- Together, needs 3 borders

Ed's Crown Royal Quilt - Started sashing
This week's stats:
Completed projects -4
New projects -0
Currently in progress -3
Finished this year - 40 , 11 Samples

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

WIP Wednesday Week 25 6.20.12

This week has been so productive! I had lots of samples with deadlines to get done and I think I've met them all. Late last week a storm rolled through the area and I couldn't plug my machine in to sew, so I did some more cleaning and reorganizing. I cleaned out my ruler rack and got it down to under 30 rulers! Woohoo for me! This is a miracle since I had over 100+ on there and they are all in sale pile. I picked up some totes from Emilee and already have quite a few of them full. I got through a few more drawers and my pattern boxes. I took two full boxes down to a half of one box. I need to work on the books and shelf next. I'm hoping Paul will help me get in the crawl space this weekend and get more out. It's really starting to add up, but I feel great about what I have left.


I made this Classmate case by Atkinson Design. It had to be done by last weekend.
This is the inside of the case. It has a lot of vinyl, but even more pockets. It was really easy to put together, yet there was a lot of steps to it.
Then I quickly made this little Baguette from Atkinson Designs. It turned out super cute with mesh on the front and is made to hold a rotary cutter.


This is the Easy Hex Table Topper by GE Designs. It's out of a recent table topper book and I'll be teaching a class on it this summer. I love how it turned out and I think I'll make a smaller version of it with the leftover scraps. It's really a fun and easy one to make. I probably could have made it in an hour, minus the cutting, if I hadn't had any interruptions. I used mostly scraps with a purchase for backing and border. It uses the quilt as you go method and I finished up the hand work on the binding yesterday during lunch.

This is another of GE Designs quilt as you go patterns I'll be teaching. It's called Lickety Split baby quilt. The last one I made was personalized for Wyatt, but considering he just turned 3, it's been a while. I love how this one turned out and I can't wait to personalize it for a friends baby. It's one of the 5 I need to make this fall. I have the top of one done and this one just needs the binding done, so I'm well on my way.
 
This week I hope to get more packing of my sewing room done and maybe do a quilt or two on the frame. Quarter break is going by way too quickly!

Finished this week:
Classmate case
Baguette
Easy Hex Table Topper
Lickety Split baby quilt

Ongoing projects:  (and progress this week on them) 
Swoon - 2 Blocks done
Dilly Dally Baby Girl Quilt
Pink/Brown Friendship Quilts -Handwork on binding
Buggy Barn Pink/Brown Extra Blocks -Binding
Cre8tive Swap w/ Jen
Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Blush Quilt 
Pink/Green Jungle Animal Baby Quilt
Confetti Top
Friendship Block Swap Top
Twisted Heart
Merry Go Round
Sign Language Baby Quilt 2
No progress:
Mocha Meringue Wonder Blocks- Together, needs 3 borders

Ed's Crown Royal Quilt - Started sashing
This week's stats:
Completed projects -4
New projects -0
Currently in progress -3
Finished this year - 39 , 11 Samples

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

WIP Wednesday Week 24 6.13.12

This has been a busy week! We went to Pierre to the Speedway and spent the weekend fishing on the Missouri River. It was lots of fun and very relaxing, but boy I didn't feel like I had a weekend. I finished my final 2500 word paper for my Spring class on Sunday night when we got home and I got an A! Woohoo! So glad this class is over. Hopefully the summer class will be more interesting since it's on Curriculum Design.

Thursday night I taught a class on Merry Go Round. The girls in it were busy sewing, so I did some handwork and also cut out some quilt blocks. I hate just sitting and watching them sew, I like to be productive and not bother them.

Friday afternoon I took off from work and went to the quilt show. I found some inspiration, but something more amazing happened... I left without buying a single thing! I know it's a shocker for those who know me, but I just didn't see anything I had to have. So I headed to Hill City and looked over the last of the discounted fabric at Quilt Corral. They closed Monday, so I picked up 10+yards of a lavender batik to use as backing for my Winding Ways quilt. At such a deep discount I could afford to get more than I need, so I know I'll have enough.I hope to make this a queen plus size quilt.

I made it back to Rapid in time to go to Club Sew. My friends Emilee and Gaila were there and we had a great time sewing, laughing, and planning my sewing garage sale. I'm sew excited to have friends who will help me get organized! Gaila took a picture of me with the quilt top I was making. It's a 5 yard quilt made out of sign language fabric. I made all the blocks and put on the first set of borders.

I just had the outer left and right borders to finish up, so last night I put those on. I had to wait until later in the evening to sew since we had a bad storm pass through and I don't like to have my machines plugged in when it is lightening. So I did a bunch of cleaning. I thoroughly cleaned out my ruler rack and only kept the ones I know I'll use. I went from 75+ to less than 30. I did take a few to work to leave there, so I don't cart them back and forth, but I got rid of all the duplicates.


After finishing up the borders on this quilt, I had to work on a sample I need done by this weekend. I got two of the pockets done before calling it a night. It's a Classmate case from Atkinson Designs and I'm really excited to see how it turns out, since I think it will be really cute. I also pulled some fabric from my stash to make a sample for my next set of classes. I have 2 samples I need to make before next weekend, so I'm hoping to get some good sewing time in this weekend.

Finished this week:
Sign Language baby quilt 2 top
Ongoing projects:  (and progress this week on them) 
Swoon - 2 Blocks done
Dilly Dally Baby Girl Quilt
Pink/Brown Friendship Quilts -Handwork on binding
Buggy Barn Pink/Brown Extra Blocks -Binding
Classmate case
Baguette
Easy Hex Table Topper
Cre8tive Swap w/ Jen
Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Blush Quilt 
Pink/Green Jungle Animal Baby Quilt
Confetti Top
Friendship Block Swap Top
Twisted Heart
Merry Go Round
Sign Language Baby Quilt 2
No progress:
Mocha Meringue Wonder Blocks- Together, needs 3 borders

Ed's Crown Royal Quilt - Started sashing
This week's stats:
Completed projects -9
New projects -1
Currently in progress -9
Finished this year - 37 , 9 Samples

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

WIP Wednesday - Week 23 - 6.6.12

This has been one of the most productive weeks in the last two months for me! I've gotten a lot accomplished and feel great about where I'm headed. Saturday I quilted two quilts for my friend Emilee. They both turned out great and I really enjoyed quilting them. I absolutely love the carpenter star. The colors are fabulous and the piecing amazing. It's 34" square.

This one is her Happy Hour. It was 83"x100"


On Sunday I spent quite a bit of time putting wall hanging sleeves and binding on 5 small wall hanging/table toppers. I've had these quilted for a month or more, even had the binding cut and they were squared up, I just had to sew it on. I'm so glad to have some hand work to do again, but now it's so nice I hardly spend any breaks inside sewing.


I made this one to be a little table topper.


This one is probably my favorite. I used it to try a bunch of different quilting patterns on. It's a bit small for doing so much, but it was fun playing with the designs from the Pajama Quilter.


I did get a sample to make for Club Sew on Friday night. I worked on it both Mon. and Tues. night. It's a little mesh bag from the Zip It pattern. It was really quite easy, but had to pick up bias binding to finish it.

When I stopped at the shop on Tues. night, Tammy had a few more samples for me to make, so last night after Mikaela went to bed, I cut out this little Baguette. It's from Atkinson Designs and the front is vinyl. It turned out so cute and I can't wait to make another one with the mesh.

On Sunday I also made these three little stuffed dolls for Mikaela. They were from  a panel my mom had cut out. I just had to sew them together and stuff. They were easy and she loves playing with them. I also finished a bag for my MIL and fixed Paul's jeans, so I had a very productive week!


Finished this week:
Emilee's two quilts
3 stuffed dolls
Mom's Jim Shore Angel Quilt
2 Yard Bag for Leslie
Zip It bag
Baguette
Ongoing projects:  (and progress this week on them) 
Swoon - 2 Blocks done
Dilly Dally Baby Girl Quilt
Pink/Brown Friendship Quilts -Handwork on binding
Buggy Barn Pink/Brown Extra Blocks -Binding
Sign Language Baby Quilt
Cre8tive Swap w/ Jen
Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Blush Quilt 
Pink/Green Jungle Animal Baby Quilt
Confetti Top
Friendship Block Swap Top
Twisted Heart
Merry Go Round
No progress:
Mocha Meringue Wonder Blocks- Together, needs 3 borders

Ed's Crown Royal Quilt - Started sashing
This week's stats:
Completed projects -9
New projects -1
Currently in progress -9
Finished this year - 37 , 9 Samples

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

Productive weekend

I like to think I put all of my work into one weekend instead of dragging it out over the last 2 months. I feel like I got so much accomplished! Next weekend we are going away for a weekend vacation with my MIL, so she needed a 2 yard bag to pack so we could conserve space. I found some materials and made this one up for her. I started it Wed. night and then had to pick up a zipper, so I finished it on Sunday.
This quilt has been on my to do list for months. I made it with blocks mom had and then quilted it last year in preparation for donating to the new Terra Sancta retreat center. However, I had about half the binding left to do when I got tired of hand work and I threw it in the closet. This week while cleaning I pulled it out and on Friday I spent an hour finishing up the hand work. I can't believe it only too me an hour to finish!

On Sunday I finished it by putting the label on and giving it a good washing. Now it's all ready for donation.
On Sunday I also put the elastic on this hat my aunt made for Mikaela. It was always flying off, so I put a band around to keep it on. Hope she'll wear it when we're out and about. I fixed Paul's jeans which required a patch and pulling out my little sewing machine with a free arm.
Saturday I helped Paul put a roof on a lean to and when we got done we were all exhausted, so naps ensued. I felt so refreshed that I loaded Emilee's Carpenter Star wall hanging and quilted it. I love how it turned out and I think she'll love it too. The colors in it are just awesome and it makes me want to do one as well.

Here's a couple close ups of the quilting.


Emilee took my Happy Hour quilt class a few months back and made this queen size quilt. It turned out really amazing and I'm so excited to have gotten to quilt it for her. It quilted up beautiful and I'm going to have to ask what kind of batting it was, because it was so soft. I was on a role and the quilting was going so perfectly that I didn't stop until 11:30 Sat. night when I finished. Good thing I had a 3 hour nap!
Sunday I put the binding on 3 wall hangings and 2 little table mats. Now they are all ready for hand sewing when we get some rain and I have to stay inside on break.
I quilted these probably close to a month or two ago and they have been squared up and the binding cut, but just kept getting pushed to the side.

I wanted to finish them up so I can clean out the tote they are in. I've come to the end of all my brown/pink Buggy Barn scraps.


I also made Mikaela 3 little stuffed dolls to play with on Sunday, but she was too busy playing and I didn't get a picture.
 I've started cleaning out my sewing room and packing up what I can't use and selling or donating a lot of what I'll never be able to use in my lifetime. We have a family member moving in with us and need the bedroom that my quilting room occupies, so I'm downsizing. It's actually been really liberating to get rid of stuff and see what is really important to being able to quilt. I don't really need all the rulers and rotary cutters I've accumulated or the fabric I just won't use. I am keeping projects in bags where I know I have everything, just need the time. I still have to go through all the books as that will take me a while, so I feel so good knowing what I'm keeping is stuff I will actually use. Hopefully now that I've gotten my groove back, I will be able to do more quilting and sewing.