July Quilting Accomplishments

July went by very quickly, but I feel like I accomplished a ton. A lot of it was handwork, but that's what I have time for these days. It seems like every night I have time to sew we have gotten a storm and then I can't turn the machine on, but I'm loving all the rain we're getting, so I won't complain.
I finished the binding on my Hugs and Kisses quilt and it is ready to enter in the fair. I have a list of approximately 15 quilts and 3 or 4 sewing projects to enter in the fair this year.

I also finished the Easy 4 baby quilt. I sewed the binding on while we were camping over the 4th.

One Monday Jen was working on finishing the Sylvia binding and we were talking about how fast we can sew binding. I took it as a challenge to test how fast I could sew it. I didn't have anything in need of binding, so I went home and quilted this Unity wall hanging and put the binding on it. It took me 64 min. over the course of 4 breaks to do the binding. It equaled about 1.75" per min. I'm sure I could be faster on a bigger quilt with more space between the corners. I'm so glad it is done and ready for the fair as well.

Ann requested I make a diaper clutch for her nephew and his wife who just had a baby, so I made this one to match the baby quilt I made for them. It turned out really cute and has the same fabric with a white background on the inside.

I've been wanting a lighter car seat cover for Mathew, so I finally made this one for him. I'm finding however I don't really like it and will probably move the strings so it becomes a blanket for his new car seat when he moves up in a few months.

I did a lot of work on my Ahhhh's. I finished 4 this month, Pie & Ice Cream

Razor Sharp

Tilt a Whirl

Ruby's Cube


This is where I am at so far, minus the Ruby's Cube I just finished. I'm likeing how they are coming together, but I need to step it up a bit to get a few more finished. I have over 40 so far, but only 13 completed. I plan to do black batik triangles between them.


This week I taught a class with just a few students on how to make bags. It was the second night of the class and they were both working pretty independently, so I sewed this bag up. It turned out pretty cute, but I really wish we had gotten the bright pink in that I wanted to use. This was on my goal list from last month, so I am happy it is done.



I've been working on Swoon for over a year now, but needed some motivation to get going on it. I've been part of the 2013 Swoon along. I worked on the green block most of last week and finished Friday night.


After working on my Scrap swap project and getting a quilt top done, I worked on the orange swoon block. I'm so excited to have finished 2 more. I think I now have 5 of 9 done.



This is my newest English paper piecing project called Rubic Star. I'm winging it with colors and have decided I don't like the teal points. I think I need to find a darker green for a medium and use my medium as my light points. It's all trial and error, but at least I am realizing before I sew them together. I am also working on a project for the Hexie Blog Hop.


I have accomplished all of my July goals, except finishing the scrap swap project, but I did finish the top so I feel that I did well. I'm not sure what my goals for August will be. I only need to finish the scrap swap project. I will definately be getting projects ready for the fair and working on Rubic Star.

Ahhhh's & Swoon

This week I spent a considerable less amount of time in the sewing studio. I've been away from home a lot and spent a lot of time riding in vehicles. I did spend quite a bit of time working on Ahhh's. My goal is 2 per month, although I get about 8 each month. I'm focusing on the beginner and intermediate ones. I have 12 done and 5 more prepped in kits, ready to baste and sew together.
This is #23 Razor Sharp, I thought it should be knife blades and blood.

Tilt a Whirl is #19 and I worked on it for 4 days to get it together. I probably spent 20 min. to an hour each day on it.

I took all my finished ahhhh's to show my great aunts on Monday when I visited them. I decided it might be fun to see how they will look on the black batik background I have picked out. My goal is to do them with black triangles in between. I've been working on these for 7 months, so I need to finish up a couple more to get up to my goal. So far this has been a fun challenge. I'm not quite ready to tackle the advanced ones, but these I can easily handle.

Last night I took the time to work on a Swoon block for the quilt along. I got all the HST's made (after a bit of ripping) and got 1/3 put together. It takes me so long to remember how to make the block for how I have them cut out, but when I get going they go together pretty quickly. This is a dark picture taken quite late at night. Maybe tomorrow night I can finish it up as I have class tonight.

17/17 in July

I'm going strong with the July sewing challenge, sewing 17/17 days this month. I've really enjoyed getting so much accomplished and getting myself motivated to work on projects that do not have deadlines and simply are in the to do pile.
I finished the binding on the Easy as 4,5,6 baby quilt and it is ready to gift when the right baby comes along. I have one in mind, but not sure if I'll end up giving it away to the mom or just making a blanket.

I finished Pie and Ice Cream, Ahhhh #17. I need to get moving on these as I have a lot of them and not nearly enough finished. I have 3 more cut out and prepped to do and 1 is in progress.

Saturday we went to Spearfish with daddy and Mikaela insisted on wearing her purple UGG boots from Hannah. She looks so cute, but it was mighty warm.

Monday in our Hexie group we were talking about how fast Jen and I bind quilts. I wanted to really find out, so I took this Unity top out and quilted it Monday  night and put the binding on. I'm working on it during my breaks at work with a stop watch, so when it is completed, probably this afternoon, I'll know how many inches per hour or minute or something like that.

After I got the binding on Monday night I worked on this diaper clutch. It's for my dad's wife to gift to a relative, so I wanted to get it done soon. The baby is already 6 weeks old or so. I finished up the hand sewing and made the changing pad to match on Tues. night.

Last night I also worked on this carseat canopy for Mathew. I made the ties moveable, so when Mathew goes into a different carseat cover in a few months we can tie it on to that too. I'm not sure it's perfect, but he's always loosing his blanket so we'll see. He has a fitted one that we love, but then he's always missing his blanket. This one has lime green minkee on the back.

All in all it's been a very productive week. We spent the weekend in Spearfish and I finished up my first paper for my graduate class. We'll be going back to Spearfish this weekend and get to spend time with my friend Emilee and her family. I'm sure the girls will have lots of fun playing and the moms will chat it up while the dad's work.

Shooting with Daddy

A couple weeks ago we went out to Dad & Ann's new place to get some firewood for our camping trip. Paul got in a little prairie dog hunting while we were out there. The kids and I stayed safely in the back of the pickup.




Mikaela loves to hold Mathew now.



Daddy with his new shooting bench.

Mathew in his cowboy boots from Grandpa and Ann

After we got home, we hung around outside and enjoyed the shade.

She loves to hug, but isn't real good at looking at the camera for me.

Hexie Queen Blog Hop

I may not be the Hexie Queen, but I will be taking part in the Hexie Queen blog hop! I'm so excited to share all of my hexie projects with readers. I am also designing a new hexie project just for this hop. I guess being part of the Hexie Borg Collective has grown my love of all things hexie. I best get back to working on my hexies.

10/10 in July

One of the most Cre8tive and talent quilters I know suggested in our Hexie group to do a July sewing challenge. The challenge is to sew at least a little, every single day in July.  So far I am 10/10 and have done both hand and machine sewing. The 1st and 2nd I trimmed up the Easy 4 quilt and the Hugs and Kisses quilts and put the binding on by machine. I also sewed hexies at break. On the 3rd I sewed hexies at both breaks. On the 4th I hexied at our camp site in the morning and sewed the binding on by hand in the afternoon evening on the Easy 4 quilt.
On the 5th and 6th I worked on the binding on the Hugs and Kisses quilt. I got about one side done each day. I again worked on it during breaks on the 8th, 9th, and 10th, and officially finished it today!

My hubby and I had a rare date night to see the World of Outlaws race on Monday night. I took my mini hexies and worked on them

I cleaned house and put up my summery wine glass shades.

I picked up a little sale fabric from Jennifer at Knotted Thread. Hexie's and chevrons with a piece of solid white. What can I say? That's where my interest is right now.
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I finished 3 rows of my hexi table runner. I have started piecing the other parts in rows of 7 & 8, so I can keep them in the box longer and play with it a bit more when I am ready to assemble. I'm really happy with how it is turning out so far.

June Quilting Accomplishments

This month was fabulous! Although the first week or so I was extremely busy with school work and a family reunion, I was able to get a lot of sewing done. I had 11 goals, which included making 18 projects, and I accomplished all but 2 of them! I also put off these two in favor of quilting on the frame, otherwise I could have accomplished them as well.
I succumbed to the peer pressure of May Club Sew and made a Keep Calm bag. I LOVE it! It's big, sturdy, and really useful. Don't let the picture fool you, the pocket does match much better than the picture shows. I have another bag on my list, but am waiting for more webbing to come in as it was back ordered.

I quilted this Baby Chevron scrap quilt using a new geometric stipple. I love how this turned out. I'm really disappointed that some water got spilled on it at the shop and dye from another project ran on it. I'm still trying to get it out, but Synthropol didn't work, so I'm not holding out much hope.

I made up these cute little wine glass shades and cleaned and reorganized my wine glass collection to use them.

I also basted and quilted this Max & Whiskers throw quilt for a class sample. It's the first time I haven't used the frame for a large quilt in a long time. I quilted it with the walking foot and Bernina 730. I'm still attempting to bond with the machine.

I made Tammy a Carpenter Wheel quilt block. It's 12.5"

Here's her other 12.5" block for our Friendship swap

I made a beach bag for our camping trip next week. It's lined with vinyl.

I used the extra vinyl for a protective bag.

I made little bags for Jen B. and I. I figure we can never have enough bags, however I still use the one she gave me at retreat in 2009 as my go to supply bag.

I finished the quilting and binding on this wall hanging. I'm pleased with how it turned out and plan to enter it in the fair.

I made this sample for the shop. I'm waiting to see how we quilt it before trimming it down.

I made 2 block for Jodi for the Friendship block swap

I finished an Ahhhh

I made Emilee 3 blocks for our Friendship block swap

I made Jenn 2 blocks for the friendship block swap.

I whipped up this dress at 10PM on a Friday night to wear on Saturday to the preview party at the shop. It took an hour.

I also made a skirt, since I wasn't sure if the dress was long enough. The skirts a bit long and big, but I'll fix it soon.

With my MIL and hubby watching the kids, I got to quilt on the frame. I quilted Hugs & Kisses, a batik scrappy quilt.

I also quilted this baby quilt, Easy as 4,5,6.


The only two things I didn't get done were my scrappy exchange gift, which is now due in Aug. instead of the first of July and a diaper clutch, which doesn't have a deadline. I am thrilled with how much I got done. I'm hoping to make a car seat canopy and get a few more things checked off my UFO list this month. If I get the binding on both these last two quilts, they are both on my UFO list. It's going to be a great summer! Minus class which starts today. Boo... only 3 classes left though! Yeah!