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!

WIP Wednesday Week 38 9.19.12

This past week has been crazy busy! I am so ready for October, so I can slow down.
Oh wait, no sure it will happen then either. I had a couple finishes from last week I wanted to share pictures of since the shower is over. My co-worker Jody's shower was on Sat. and I gave her this little diaper clutch. It's made with the leftover backing fabric from her baby quilt.

I finally finished my dad and Ann's wedding quilt. It will be given to them on Friday. I think it's my favorite quilt so far this year. Maybe in the last 2 years. I simply love how stunning it turned out.
 
I did the label on the embroidery machine. It turned out awesome! So glad I can still make that thing work like I want it to, when I want it to.

This is the baby quilt I made for Jody. It's a panel, but her baby room is farmyard, so  I knew it was perfect!

She loved the baby quilt and I'm so happy I went with this one instead of the one I started for her. She's due Nov. 1, so we'll be overlapping maternity leaves by about 4 weeks.


Saturday night I needed some me time, so after Mikaela went to bed I loaded my blush quilt. It's the one I tried to quilt with the Aurifil thread on Tues. night and cussed it so much that I took it out and started over with my old standby KingTut/Bottomline combo. I was mad too since I had bought both pink and turquoise Aurifil to quilt it with and neither worked. Oh well, live and learn. It was one of those nights where I would say I'll finish this bobbin, then I'll finish the row, then oh I don't have much left to do, so I might as well finish since it is going so well. I love how it turned out!

Here's a close up of the quilting.

Sunday night I had Jen's quilt on the frame and ready to quilt. I quilted and tore and quilted and tore several times before I got it where I like the quilting on it. When it was done I loaded this baby quilt on it. I was just going to load, then just check thread, and pretty soon it was completely quilted! Good thing I did as I found out the baby shower is Sunday night. Last night after I worked late I put the binding on. I'm hoping to finish the handwork during class tonight, but we'll see how it goes.

My dad drives a grader, so that is the picture I took of the quilting. It's for his grandson. So with 4 yards of bamboo batting I was able to complete three quilts, the blush, Jen's, and the Cat quilt. I think they will all be great snugly quilts, well except for Jen's, but it will hang well. That's my plan and I'm sticking to it!

Saturday night we took Mikaela to get her first hair cut. She was so not interested in sitting still, so I had to hold her and try to keep her still. She now has bangs and looks like a little girl. The hairdresser Cathy was so good with her!

It's been a VERY productive week! I don't think this next week will be since we are going to my dad's tomorrow for the wedding on Friday. I'm hoping I can have the baby quilt done by Sunday's shower. Anything else is a plus this week!

Finished this week:
Dump Truck Quilt
Pink/Brown Friendship Quilts - DONE!
Buggy Barn Pink/Brown Extra Blocks -DONE!

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

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

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.
Mocha Meringue Wonder Blocks- borders on - 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 -3
New projects -
Currently in progress - 4
Finished this year - 51, 12 Samples

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

Star Quilt Class - November 3rd

Several years ago as a birthday present to myself, mom and I took a star quilt class together. We both really challenged ourselves to do our best work and work on our piecing skills. We both finished the quilts and I fell in love with hers. However it went to my nephew and I can't recreate the quilt. I did find the scraps of leftover material though! I pulled it out and there is enough for the borders of a wall hanging, so I pulled colors from it and am creating a star quilt using those colors.
I've been asked to teach a star quilt class on November 3rd and I wanted to have a sample to show, so I am working on making it. Last night I cut up all my strips for my quilt. They are some of the straightest strips I have ever used!
 
Then I made the paste up diamond. It's one diamond of what the whole piece will look like. I love my colors and can't wait to start sewing the strips together. I have them all hanging and ready to go. The little cowgirl is the piece of fabric for borders. I'm going to use this to show how to pick colors. If you're interested in taking the class, we still have openings and it will be a great day of friendship and fun. Email or message me and I'd be happy to share the details if anyone is interested in taking the class. It's being put on privately, but at a great facility for group learning.  The quilt is the 4 color radiant star and can be a baby quilt or wall hanging, depending on what you want. I've done the wall hanging and this one will be a baby quilt.
 

WIP Wednesday 37 9.12.12

This week flew by, but boy did I have fun! I finished the top of Jen's swap quilt and I love it if I do say so myself. It turned out just as I had kind of pictured it. I also finished up the hand sewn binding on Jody's baby quilt and made a diaper clutch and changing pad to match the quilt. The shower is on Saturday. I worked more on the batik quilt from last week, but decided it is really mindless sewing and I would be better spent doing that at my sewing club night with friends on Friday the 14th, so I packed it away for then.
Sunday marked the last day of my summer graduate class. I am so excited to be done! Three weeks until the next class starts. This is one I'm worried about since it is a law class, but better to have it done before baby than to try to do it after. I worked on my paper Sunday afternoon, so Sunday night I got to sew. I made the diaper clutch and then it was still early and Mikaela was asleep, so I started this UFO of mom's. It's a baby quilt and it was all cut out. I just added the borders to the panel. I plan to quilt it up for my brother and his fiance. They are having a little boy at the end of Oct. We already have one pretty similar for our little boy when he makes his arrival.

Then with working on the batik quilt, I've also been working on a Hugs and Kisses quilt. It is another mindless sewing project I am taking to sewing night, but I had all these leftover batik strips and I found this Autumn Star quilt that the strips were in. I was afraid to cut them up since I thought they belonged in this UFO of my mom's. Well as I pulled it out, I realized I only needed to finish 5 seams! Really I was shocked that mom had it this close to done and didn't finish it. Last night while I was working on some embroidery, I started piecing it together. There were quite a few seams that were loose, too big of stitches and all pressed open, so I sewed them up and finished piecing it together. There are a couple points I couldn't get to match, but done is better than perfect. I love how it looks and can't wait to quilt it. This one was a lesson in not pressing open (even though the pattern says to) and using a smaller stitch length. Most quilters don't realized they need to shorten the stitch length on their machine when piecing. Machines are set for regular stitching where you would back stitch, however if you don't do that, then they need to have a shorter stitch length so the pieces don't come apart.

Last night we were supposed to have our last live session of class, but due to a family emergency, our instructor couldn't make it and we didn't have class. I pulled out the embroidery machine and did two different designs. One was a label for dad's quilt and the other a special project, which I can't show. They both turned out great though! I love doing embroidery when it all works. I can do it and sew at the same time!
Saturday Mikaela and I went with dad to Keystone to the parade. Mikaela enjoyed the horse and waiting on the road for the parade to start. She is starting to get the concept of picking up candy.

Finished this week:
Jody's baby quilt - Barn Yard Friends Quilt
Diaper Clutch for Jody's baby shower
Autumn Star Top
Cre8tive Swap w/ Jen -Top done!
Dump Truck Quilt top

Ongoing projects:  (and progress this week on them)
Sign Language Diaper Clutch
Batik Scrappy Quilt
Hugs & Kisses Batik quilt
Hugs & Kisses Scrappy Quilt

Quilts Needing Hand sewing on Binding
Pink/Brown Friendship Quilts -Handwork on binding - 1 left
Buggy Barn Pink/Brown Extra Blocks -Binding- 1/2 done!
Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Blush Quilt  - backing made! - Loaded on the frame
Pink/Green Jungle Animal Baby Quilt - Need to make backing
Confetti Top - At the shop
Twisted Heart - At the shop
Merry Go Round - Back from the shop, need to add final two rows
Mocha Meringue Wonder Blocks- borders on - backing made
Autumn Star Quilt - needs backing
Dump Truck Quilt top

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 -2
New projects -1
Currently in progress - 4
Finished this year - 47 , 12 Samples

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

WIP Wednesday Week 36 9.5.12

This week I kind of went crazy after seeing a post on WIP Wednesday post and started a new quilt. It has a bunch of 16 patch blocks, so I made those first. I alternated between cutting and pressing at work during lunch and sewing at night. I have all these blocks done. I used my scrappy 2.5" batik strips.


While we were camping this weekend I cut the other strips into 2.5" squares and 4.5" squares of background. I was doing it on the picnic table and got a bit too much direct sunlight, so I had to quit. My mat was warping! However in the evening I was back at it and got them all cut. Today at lunch I drew the lines on the small squares so they are ready to sew tonight.

Also in progress this week is my swap with Jen. Since I don't make enough to get into a doll quilt swap, we're doing our own swap of small quilts. I can only show a few snaps of it, but it's coming together really nicely. All my points are matching! However when I started working on it, I thought I was making 2" finished HST's. Somewhere along the lines the size is wrong and I instead have squares that measure 2 3/8" unfinished, making for a really weird size!

Since the quilt judge at the fair said I can't match points, I'm doing my darnedest to match all the points. I'm really quite proud of how these are turning out. Even my 16 patches above match perfectly!

This weekend for Labor Day we went camping. Mikaela is between sizes of clothes, but I pulled out this outfit I had made back when I was 10-12 years old as a child development project for 4-H. Mom had saved it in the cedar chest all these years. Mikaela looked adorable and she fit in it perfectly.

The back is super cute as well. It has little bloomers with it.

We took a family picture at the camp site. As you might be able to tell I'm really starting to show now. I'm 26 weeks, so only 14 weeks left!  With only 2 weeks left until dad's wedding, next week will be dedicated to doing embroidery and finishing a couple baby quilts for showers. September is going to fly by!

Finished this week:

Ongoing projects:  (and progress this week on them)
Cre8tive Swap w/ Jen -Sewing the final seams
Sign Language Diaper Clutch
Barn Yard Diaper Clutch

Quilts Needing Hand sewing on Binding
Pink/Brown Friendship Quilts -Handwork on binding - 1 left
Buggy Barn Pink/Brown Extra Blocks -Binding-1 left
Barn Yard Friends Quilt -quilted and binding on - Must be done this week!

Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Blush Quilt  - backing made!
Pink/Green Jungle Animal Baby Quilt - Need to make backing
Confetti Top - At the shop
Twisted Heart - At the shop
Merry Go Round - Back from the shop, need to add final two rows
Mocha Meringue Wonder Blocks- borders on - backing made
New Projects:
Batik Scrappy Quilt

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 -0
New projects -1
Currently in progress - 4
Finished this year - 45 , 12 Samples


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