July Quilting Accomplishments

July was a very productive month for me! I had two long weekends at home and actually got to do quite a bit of sewing/ quilting. I accomplished all the goals I set for myself as well!
Gaila's block for the friendship block swap was done the very end of June.

I made this wall hanging for Jody and Adam's Wedding gift. She requested sunflowers for her kitchen.

I also made this table runner for their table.

I finished the priest vestment, which was my mom's UFO of the month. Our priest loved it and said it's the first one that actually fit him.

Hubby is a lot shorter than our 7ft tall priest.

I quilted and bound this wall hanging for my dad.

I quilted up and bound this wall hanging, another of my mom's UFO's for myself.

I put borders on this fun novelty fabric and quilted it with minkee on the back. It also was bound this month.

I made this wall hanging for my co-worker Pat. It only took me a few hours start to finish. I think it took longer for the hand work.

I made mug rugs for my coworkers Shannon

Pat

and myself. I also made one for Karen, but didn't get a picture. I have 5 left to bind and gift.

I made a baby quilt for my friend Larissa's new baby, in 4 hours!

I made one for Lariann, her sister who is also having a girl and I was going to her baby shower.

I made this notebook cover for my MIL Leslie for her to use at work. I used the Maxine fabric scraps which fits her personality well.

I made this table runner for my friend Shannon from my leftover scraps of Bistro fabric.

I completed the goal of finishing a store sample. I made this Beach Balls Little quilt from LGD. I also quilted it and it will be bound when the fabric line comes into the store.

I worked on several UFO's. This was one of my mom's UFO's I finished the top and now it needs borders. It's the BQII pattern made with the Jim Shore Angels.

I completed both of my friendship blocks which was another goal. This was Colleen's block. I just love the contrast and my flying geese came out awesome thanks to the LGD Flying Geese ruler.

I made a little wallet for my friend Pat.

I also made one for her granddaughter who is staying with her for a bit.

I made Pat a cosmetic bag as well out of the Cats fabric I bought with her in mind.

I made this Grab and Go clutch out of some fat quarters I picked up at QC in Hill City.

I made Regina's block for the swap.

I worked on this UFO of Buggy Barn HST's and made these 4 blocks in the Moneik Bob Square Pants block from Lynne's blog. I just love them, but think I'll just make a wall hanging since they are so huge. The squares are 24".
 
I also worked on my Blush quilt blocks and started making a few of the hexi's.

I also worked on the Pink/Green flannel baby quilt HST's and have a plan for how to make them into a quilt. I just need to lay it out now. When I have the right baby to make it for, it will be made.
I also reorganized my sewing studio, including counting my rulers. I had 75, but have added about 7 more since then, so I'm up over 80 now. Later this month I'll show the ones I really use a lot!


So I accomplished every goal I set out to do this month and also made about 10 projects that weren't even on the radar. I feel like I accomplished so much! Several have asked how I get so much sewing time with a baby. Let me first say I have a wonderful hubby. He'll give her a bath and feed her at least every other night (we take turns), I get to spend at least one night out with my girls Jenn, Shonna, and Gaila sewing, he will watch her while he's watching TV or bring her down to the studio and she plays with toys while I sew. On the weekends my MIL loves to play with her for a while, so I usually get an afternoon or evening or both of sewing time in.  I also spend almost all my lunch hours cutting or sewing. I do almost all my cutting out of projects during lunch or hand sew binding down. I also sew a lot after Mikaela and Paul go to bed at 8 or 9. I'll stay up until 11 or midnight sewing.

I made a list of the projects I'm currently working on or have out to work on. I had 25 projects on it on Friday and I've finished 5 so far! A few of the others I should be able to knock out pretty quickly, but we'll see! So my goals for August include anything on the list, but I'll be working on a few specifically.
Wine bottle holders (2)
Runaround Bag/ Wonder Wallet
Dilly Dally Baby Quilt for Pat
3 Store Samples
Aunt Mae's Quilt
Cindy's Block
Mom's UFO - Jim Shore Quilt
My UFO - Buggy Barn Blocks/ Wall Hanging

I'll be heading for the Quilts and Vines Outdoor Quilt Show next weekend near Sioux Falls. I'm going with my college roommate and so am really looking forward to it. I've heard from Sara that she'll be there and hope to meet up with her. If there are any other bloggers out there who would like to meet up there, send me an email or leave a comment. I'd love to meet you! Mikaela and I will be shop hopping across the state Friday, hoping to stop in Chamberlain and Mitchell and maybe Dell Rapids on our way to SF.

Sewing away

I have been sewing away, just not taking the time to post pictures! I get done so late with my sewing that I typically just upload pictures and go to bed. I never get around to getting the blog post done. On the weekend of the 17th I got quite a bit of sewing done. I quilted and made this book cover for my MIL to use at work. It has all Maxine fabrics and I think she really likes it. She just kind of goes with that personality.

I tried to do a few bits of accent.

I also finished up the sewing on the shop sample. It's called Beach Ball's by Lazy Girl Designs. It uses the lazy angle and though it wasn't hard at all, I just wasn't motivated to piece it after the first 5 blocks were done. Once I got to working on it, it went together very quickly. I actually love how it turned out.

I took it to the store and got backing and quilted it up the next night. I love how it turned out. I used an orange variegated thread on it.

I just love the King Tut thread on it. It will be bound when the fabric comes in to the store. It's Super by Gudrun Erla Designs.

Tuesday night I made this table runner for my friend Shannon at work. She had given me a bunch of stuff for Mikaela, so I thought I could give her a little something. I used up the last of my Bistro fabric. I love how the blocks turned out so wonky. The scraps are now all gone for this quilt.

She just loved it since she loves coffee and her kitchen is done in this theme.


So I have gotten quite a bit of sewing done. I'm working on some hand binding right now and I should be done with it later this week. I hope to get a bit of sewing done tonight, but I'm working late every night this week, so we'll see how tired I am.
Those of you who guessed on my ruler post guessed under 40. When I did this post back in April 2009 I had 32 rulers and I've added substantially to it since then. When I counted them last week I had 75, so Jen was the closest with her guess of 72. I added 5 more this weekend to bring my total to 80. Most of them are unique and very different, though I have a few 6x12 and 6x24. There are another 17 at my dad's house that I use for embroidery work. Thanks to everyone for guessing. I love hearing from my readers. When I reach 100 followers I'll have another giveaway.

Weekend Sewing

This weekend I got lots of sewing time in! Friday night I went to Groovy Girls. I worked on my blocks for the Friendship swap and showed the girls how to paper piece. It took me a bit to remember how, since it's been a while. I got Trish's block done and worked on some batik blocks. I worked on the hand sewing on a binding of a baby quilt too. We stayed out till almost midnight, but oh boy did we have fun! I'm trying to get rid of a bit of my batik stash. So I spent several hours pressing, cutting, and making a few jewel box blocks on Saturday. 
Sunday  I worked on this  block made from a Friendship HST swap I participated in last year. I love how the block turned out, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. I have enough HST's to make 5 blocks. I think this would make an awesome wall hanging in a size 4" finished HST. At least I finally found a pattern I could use with my HST's from the swap.

Sunday night I whipped out this little mug rug for my co-worker Shannon. She graduated with her bachelors degree on Sat. and I wanted to give her a little something. She loves coffee and has her whole house done in that theme. I just have to laugh because I said I would never make a  mug rug, but it just seemed appropriate  and it was super quick and easy to make.

Last night I quilted up the camo and pink fabric and made these cute booties for Mikaela. I had enough fabric to make 2 pair, so I did. Only they are too big in the tops to stay on, so I'm going to have to do a little revision to the pattern. I think they turned out cute, but I wish they didn't have the pinked edge. They just look so unfinished to me.

Java Bistro

Finally I've got a finished quilt for 2009. I started this one last year, but with the holidays just didn't get it finished. I wanted to get it finished up in case I didn't have enough fabric left to finish and could get more before it sold out. This time I quilted through the squares and I like it this way too.

I had a few squares left from the first quilt, so I also made this wall hanging. These will be a gift set for a birthday later this year.

I decided to practice on this one, so I tried a steam type dwirl and it turned out rather interesting. I would probably do them all the same way if I did it again, but I really didn't mind this type of quilting. I was more afraid of running out of thread than anything.

Quilters SOYO Friday

Friday I got off work and Paul picked me up and we had lunch together before I went to the Quilt Retreat - SOYO - Sew On Your Own for the weekend. I stopped by the store and picked up the key to the room from mom and went to the hotel where the SOYO was held. I hauled all my stuff in and got set up and was sewing by 1:30. There was one lady I work with there, but pretty much everyone else had to wait until they got off that night, so I worked on borders for this Java Bistro quilt. It'll be a gift for a birthday later this year, but I want to get it done. Borders are my least favorite part, so I started and got those done in a couple hours. Then Jenn arrived and she was working on her Happy Hour quilt. I was going to do mine too, but I wanted to do the borders on a couple baby quilts before I did the HH quilt. I took out the fish quilt and figured out what I had bought about 2 years ago when my boss had her baby, and realized it just needs to be quilted, so put it away.

Then I started on putting the borders on this panel I had gotten on our honeymoon. It will be a gift at the end of the year for a new baby. I only put the yellow on, on Friday night, but decided Sat. morning after I got the borders on the other one, that I would put the big border print on this one as well. I would call it a big boy quilt, since it's bigger than a baby quilt.

Friday night I also started putting the borders on this quilt. I put the silver on as well as started cutting the border print apart. We had bought 3 yards and it was enough for both baby quilts and I still have some left. I will make a couple tablerunners probably from the leftovers. I finished the outer borders on these on Sat. morning.

Sat. afternoon mom, Jenn, and I went for some retail therapy and I found 5 1/2yd cuts for 50% off, so I lucked out and was able to add them to my quilt. I also found a great baby print that I'll make into another quilt top for a friend who is having a baby. More photos to come. I took a few photos of what others were working on and I still need a photo of the quilt I spent all of Sat. afternoon/night and all day Sunday working on. Boy how time flies when you are having fun! I have 7 tops ready to quilt, so my frame will be very busy this week/weekend.

Smoke & Roses

Last week was super busy with class, Sew & Sews club, a mom and me night. I was out Tues, Wed, and Thurs. By Friday I was completely exhausted! We had supper and were planning to go shopping for T-Day food, but instead came home and Paul went right to sleep at 7:30! I can't go to sleep then, so I worked on cutting out the bags for my Sunday Sewcial Demo and organized my sewing room a bit. I still haven't put everything away from when I sewed with mom a few weeks ago. I finished up the label and attached it with SAS2 to my Cafe Bistro quilt.
Sat morning I got up early and hand sewed the binding on my quilt. I took it to work and hung it up. My goals for the day were Apron Kits for the apron I made from the same line and to kit the fabric for Cafe Bistro. I was able to get both done and just had to finish the pattern. Jenn came in with a friend and showed me the aprons she made. They turned out way cute! Her friend wants to make a t-shirt quilt, so I gave her a few hints and things to think about.
My check engine light had come on, on the way to work, so I went to have my little bro look at it after work. He thought it was okay and fixed the fan, so it came on. I went to Walmart and as I was going to get on the interstate, the fan motor started smoking, so I headed right over to the shop (less than a block) and he came and look at the smoke billowing out. The fan motor is shot for my blower fan. I knew it was pretty close to needing replaced, but wow the smoke was horrible! When I finally got home Paul had bought me roses and was cooking a meal of filet mignon, potatoes, and corn. I was so surprised! He made me go take a shower because I stunk. My bags, purse, coat - everything smelled like smoke! It was horrible. I febrezed everything! I'm so thankful I didn't have my machine or sewing supplies with me.
We had a nice candlelight meal and watched TV together. It was so nice to be home alone together without anywhere to go and nothing that had to be done. So no sewing for me, but that's okay, it's not often we just do nothing.
I got up early Sun. morning and worked on my bags for the Sunday Sewcial. I still wasn't done, but Paul took me to work where I finished preparing. The day just kind of flew by and Paul brought me my favorite - Qdoba - for lunch! I couldn't believe it! After work he picked me up and we did the grocery shopping for T-Day. When we got home I worked on organizing a few more things and took Elaine off the frame and decided I was going to use her in my table for a while. The newness of Marie has worn off and I was ready to use Elaine again. I talked to my mom for quite a while, with my bluetooth on, so I had my hands free. I pressed all my stratas for my Crazy Eights table topper and then I drew out the appliques I'm using for Christmas presents. I have one cut out and the other still to do. I want to get those whipped up so I can take at least one thing off my list for Christmas.
Last night I had a migraine, so I got nothing done! I laid on the couch and watched Dancing with the Stars and when I finally felt better I wrote up our wedding announcement for the paper and submitted it. Nothing quilty done at all! I'm hoping tonight will be more productive.

Cafe Bistro Unveiled!

My Cafe Bistro quilt is almost complete! I finished quilting it at midnight on Friday night and got the binding cut out and squared up. I was up before 7 AM Sat. morning to put the binding on it. I glued the binding down at lunch time at work on Sat. and now I'm working on the handsewing of the binding on my lunch breaks this week. The squares were fussy cut and then I added two fabrics around the fussy cut centers to make the blocks. The picture is pretty dark, but the next one shows the more accurate color.

I quilted small meandering around the center squares and used a wool batting so it would poof. I used a brown/teal King Tut verigated thread top and bottom and used the entire spool! I used a size 14 titanium needle and I had no thread sheading whatsoever! I used 6 full bobbins which kind of surprised me, but it's the first time I've quilted this small on such a large quilt. It measures 62" x 83".

Sat. after work I went to supper with my friend D and her friend. Then we went back to D's house and sewed for the evening. She bought a new sewing machine on Sat. and was anxious to try it. We sewed for a couple hours before I went home. I got about 6 blocks done of a quilt I'm making out of the leftover 3" of my Bistro fabric. I have enough to make 20 blocks for a 4x5 block set quilt. I think it will be a Christmas present if it turns out okay.
Paul got home yesterday around noon and we did a few errands and then we helped him hang the buck he got on Sat. and the buck Ed got on Sun. morning. I got to run the wench on the 4-wheeler to hang them up. They are hanging in our garage ready to be processed on Wed. night. He's pretty excited to have gotten it. They still have their doe tags and the season doesn't close until Nov. 23, but they both have to work. They are going to use them on the second season when you can only get an antlerless deer, Jan. 1-9.