October Quilting Accomplishments

October was a very productive month for me! I got a lot accomplished and worked on several projects that weren't on my list, but that I wanted to get done. I've found that sometimes I'm just not in the mood to work on a project, but if I do something else, I can get more accomplished in the long run. Paul's been working out of town all month, so I get a lot done in the evenings, but not much on weekends.
My Goals for October included:
Quilting Aunt Vi's Quilt - I was able to get it completely quilted and the binding on. I'm not sure I like the stippling on it, so I'll do a different type of quilting on the next two.

Happy Holidays Tree-Skirt - It's done, but turned into a tabletopper instead. It fits perfectly on our kitchen table and we're hosting Christmas this year, so I decided no to make it into a tree skirt.

Essence tablerunner - This is the Baby Blocks tablerunner from the On the Run book by Heather Mulder Peterson. I've finished several tablerunners out of this one and still have some honeybun strips I could make a tablerunner out of.

The other Essence tablerunner is called Ripple Effect and turned out really neat. I love how easy it was to make everything match!

Other Accomplishments included:
I ended up making three bags for Paul to use as bathroom bags. He has this one at home.

The other two bags are from the green and he uses the bigger one for his stuff when he travels. The smaller one went to my dad to go with his new bag.

I bought enough to make 4 trick or treat bags, but ended up with enough to make 10! The first five turned out so cute.

I also made this minkee/flannel baby blanket for our little girl. It is so super soft and I can't wait to use it.

Jenn came out and spent an evening quilting with me. I worked on sewing the hexagons together for a new one block wonder quilt. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.

My co-worker Jacey is having a baby about the same time I am and there was a baby shower for her last week. I quickly quilted up this panel and bound it. She loved it as she's doing a zoo themed baby room.

Since I made dad a bag for my parents anniversary, I told mom I would make her a purse. I finally got it done. It's Margo from Lazy Girl Designs.

I made her a wonder wallet and checkbook cover to match as well.

TSC is starting a new program called Groovy Girls and I'm working on samples for it, so I got the first months Cash and Carry Wallet done. It went together super quick and easy. These are going to be so much fun! Groovy Girls is November 5th at 6 at the Sewing Center, so bring a machine and work on this project or just see what fun projects everyone else is working on. This is a great club for beginning sewers/quilters.

Mom and I also got together and finished two more tops for Aunt Vi. This one is a 9 patch queen and the other is a 4-patch/12" square throw. I'll be working on getting them quilted in Nov.

I finished up the last 5 trick or treat bags and gave them to co-workers and friends for Halloween on Friday. They turned out so cute!

The UFO Sew Down 2010 is in full force. I haven't received any updates from others, but I'm not doing so well on the UFO part. I've done about 3 UFO's and 19 new projects! At least I'm sewing and that's all that I'm really concerned about. I have started on a few UFO's, including the Sewing quilt and the OBW, so I'm working on the, just not finishing.


My November Goals will be lofty, but I am having a sewing retreat weekend with friends, so hopefully I'll be able to get a lot done.
Deer Wall Hanging for Paul's Boss
Quilt 2 DK quilts for Vi
2 Pink Ribbon Bags
4 sewing totes for retreat girls
2 samples for Groovy Girls

I'm sure I'll get a lot of tops done at retreat, but I know I won't get them all quilted. I'm taking these quilt tops to retreat to work on:
Sewing Themed Quilt
Essence Tumbler Quilt
Mocha Merigue Wonder Blocks
Sign Language Baby Quilt 2
Snowball Quilt Along
Cowgirls OBW
Frolic Baby Quilt

Badlands Quilters Quilt Retreat

Friday afternoon mom picked me up and we went to the South Fork Hunting Lodge near Philip for a quilt retreat with the Badlands Quilters Guild. It's an absolutely beautiful lodge with lots of large tables and a huge island to work on. This picture was taken outside Friday night. Mom and I along with Subby were the only Friday night attendees, but we made use of the available space to work on our projects.

Mom and Subby were working on the Friday night mystery quilt. Mom was going to cut her fabrics. Notice the zebra hide in the background? It was hanging over the banister. It was so cool!

Subby had a table all to herself. We had the tv on for music in the background.

Subby finished the cutest baby quilt! The center was the mystery part of the night and then with big borders it turned into a baby quilt. I thought it was so adorable. I think the fabric is Spring Fling by Me & My Sisters. We sewed till midnight and Subby was finished, mom had her blocks done, and I had the top and bottom borders left on the quilt I was working on, so overall a very productive evening.

I worked on the brown and teal quilt that has been hiding out in my closet since last August! I had the center done, but had to add all the borders. I ended up forgetting the pattern, so I made it up as I went. I put on the brown border then the small squares border and finally a large border to make it big enough for our bed. I finished the top and bottom borders Sat. morning, so the light was shining in when I took a picture. It's a queen size. I also sewed the backing together, so I can quilt it when I get thread and time to put it on the frame. I have a wool batting I've been saving to use with this quilt.

Mom, Subby, and I spent the night in one of the cabins and it was wonderful! The beds were comfy, internet access, and we could get up when we felt like it. Mom and I were up and back to the lodge by 8. We had breakfast with the rest of the guild members that had arrived. Then we went back to sewing. Mom was finishing her Fri night mystery and Carol was working on a youth comfort quilt. I was at the far end of the table.

Donna was busy cutting out her comfy quilt.

After finishing the teal and brown quilt, I worked on the zoo parade baby quilt. This is the second one I've made and I've had it sitting around waiting to be made. It was so much easier to use the big island to lay it out and then I could put it on the floor if I needed. I loved having so much open, clean work space to spread out my quilts.

The guild showed their raffle quilt they had made and it is ready to be quilted. It will be raffled off and given away at the spring retreat in March. It's from Keepsake Quilting.

In the afternoon I worked on the ripple effects tablerunner I have had cut out for months! I finally was able to get it sewn together. I think it turned out cute, but I wish I had placed the really dark purple and browns a bit differently. I'll get this one quilted and it will make a nice fall tablerunner.

Rita and Veva were busy working on their comfy quilts in the afternoon.

At the end of the afternoon, the guild played a game of left right center for fat quarters. Mom and I packed up our sewing stuff and got ready to leave. We took a picture with all nine of us that were at the retreat. Dora Mae, Carol, Rita, Subby, Veva, Donna, Me, Mom, and Judy. It was a beautiful afternoon and we all enjoyed being outside. Then we loaded up and headed to town for supper at the steakhouse.

It was such a fun and relaxing 2 days and I really enjoyed getting some extra uninterrupted sewing time in. I was able to complete 3 tops that have been sitting around not getting done. Plus I got to spend lots of time with my mom. We laughed and joked and told stories. It was a blast! The rest of the guild spent Sat. night and sewed part of Sunday too, but mom and I had a family reunion to attend, so we cut our time short. We both would love to host a retreat there again, but we'll have to see what will work out.

March Quilting Accomplishments

March was an extremely productive month for me. I feel like I accomplished a lot, even though it didn't feel like it sometimes. I made lots of progress on finishing up some lingering UFO's that have been hanging out for the past year. I figure if I finish a UFO a month, I'm farther ahead then when I started.

March Goals & Accomplishments!

2 Thangles BOM blocks - DONE! I have a total of 4 of the 12 done, so I'm feeling good about doing 2 per month unless the mood strikes and I may do more.

6 Snowball Blocks (Quilt Along) - DONE! About 3-5 months more and I should have a good sized quilt for my niece for Christmas. I'm loving making these blocks. My brother & sis-in-law informed me on Sat. that she is almost ready to be in a twin bed, so I'll have to start making her bigger quilts. She's started to put words together into sentences, so it's fun to listen to her. Luckily we get to see her quite a few weekends in April, including this weekend again.

Paul's Wolf Applique - Although I didn't finish this, I got it out, traced out the pattern and started cutting out the pieces. I told him I'd be lucky to finish it by our anniversary. It's got a ton of tiny pieces to be cut out, but it feels great to have actually pulled it out to work on it. Some work on it is better than none.
Quilt Club Sandwiches Tablerunner - DONE! I had 6 for this class and it was an interesting mix of ladies. About half got done with the top. We had one finger cut with the rotary cutter, but that was the worst mishap. My mom and quilty friend Darlene took this class, so they were the rowdy ladies of the bunch!

Quilt Siggy Tops - Small & Large  2 DONE! I finally finished the quilting and binding on both of my quilt retreat siggy quilts. I love how they turned out and I'm so glad to have them completely finished.

Sweet Escape Tablerunner DONE! This class is coming up April 6th at The Sewing Center. It's a quick little tablerunner using a charm pack and a bit of yardage. I finished it fairly early in the month, so it's been a sample for a while. There's still room to sign up if you're interested.

Other Quilting Accomplishments:
Quilted and bound Objects of Desire #2 Tablerunner and finished the binding on O of D tablerunner #1

Attended the Wall Quilt Guild Banquet with my mom. We each won fun prizes and enjoyed visiting with old quilting friends.
Made a Pink Snowball 9 Patch Quilt for my online quilting friend Colleen & her new daughter, Annaliese. I love surprising friends with quilts when they least expect it and I think I really surprised her. Quilters are always so appreciative of quilts.

Made 3 Block Butlers for my mom &  two quilting friends, now I need to pick up flannel and make one for myself. They turned out really cute and used up some sewing themed fabric that I had in my stash.

Quilted Mom's Western Boots Quilt
This one has been hanging out since October waiting to be quilted, so I'm glad to finally have it done.

Made & taught a Rick Rack Road Class to Jenn & a few of her friends. It was a fun night and I've seen a few of the finished runners. They all look great.

Made a Fabric Bowl for St. Patty's Day


Made Paul's 5 Yard Quilt for his birthday. Even though I worked on it for the past two weeks, he still didn't realize I was making him a quilt for his birthday yesterday. The binding was put on tonight, so I just have to do the hand work now.

Hosted Girls Night Out at TSC, where I worked on a new tablerunner from the Essence line. I got all 12 blocks made. I cut out a baby quilt for my niece, but now I have to make it into a twin sized quilt. Luckily it's a large log cabin, so I should be able to make it bigger fairly easily.

My stash is going down this year. I've bought 3 yards, received 28 yards, and used 65.5 yards, for a net used of 34.5 yards. I'm doing really well with finishing up my UFO's too. I've completed 8 UFO's and worked on 2 others. I quilted 105 hours in March, which makes for the largest number of hours per month so far.

Other happenings this month included:

Paul's Large Mouth Bass coming back from the taxidermist.

Butchering with the family.
Checking out my Great-Grandma's quilts that were saved from my Grandma's house.

Goals for April

Finish Essence Tablerunner

6 Snowball 9 Patch Blocks

2 Thangles Blocks

Pink Cowgirl Quilt

Purple Snowball Quilt

I'm hoping to start on a quilt for my cousin's wedding. I have the majority of the fabric already bought and the t-shirts, but I need to come up with a plan and get started on it since the wedding is coming up.

We'll be travelling a couple of the weekends in April, so I won't get a whole lot done on the weekends. Mom and I are going on a shop hop, so I'm hoping to get a few new finds to bring home.

Girls Night Out

Friday night we had a Girls Night Out event at The Sewing Center. There were just a few of us there, but we had a great time and I think everyone got quite a bit of sewing done. I got a little cowgirl quilt cut out and then moved on to my tablerunners. I was hoping to get two tablerunner tops done from the On the Run book by Heather Mulder Peterson. I had both cut out, but ended up only getting the blocks made for one of the tops. I did a bit of ripping because I forgot to match my center points. The fabric is from the Essence line by Sandy Gervais for Moda. I'm going to have quite a collection of tablerunners out of this line when I'm done. These are made from a layer cake and a dessert roll.

I layed out all the blocks to see what it was going to look like. I'm not sure I like the orange lattice, but it's a unique tablerunner so maybe it will grow on me. The teal with flowers is the backing fabric. I hadn't cut enough lattice strips since the number in the book was wrong, but luckily I had enough fabric to finish cutting them.

We had a fun Girls Night Out and hope to do it again in a couple months.

Sweet Escape Tablerunner

The Sweet Escape tablerunner took priority this weekend, since I need to get it to the store as a sample for my class coming up in April. I put the blocks together and half of the top on Friday night. Today I was able to finish up the top and get it quilted. I made continous bias binding which went together very quick and easy, though I don't think it was really necessary for this tablerunner. The runner calls for a charm pack, but I used a layer cake, so I have a lot of charms left!

Here's a closeup of the tablerunner/quilting. I used a plum verigated King Tut on top and plum Bottom Line in the bobbin. The top picture shows the true color better, the center and background are a deap cream/tan color.

The tablerunner is from the On the Run book by Heather Mulder Peterson of Anka's Treasures. The fabric is Essence by Sandy Gervais for Moda. It's one of my favorite fall lines.