Boxed Blessings finally done!

Boxed Blessings the "big" quilt retreat quilt I was planning to work on is finally done. I thought I could get it all pieced and in a top by the time I came home. I could have... if I hadn't waited to start until Sat night! I found too many other fun, quick projects and didn't quite get done with the blocks. I had them about 3/4 done, and shipped them home. Over the past month, I've had to make a number of bags, so this kept getting pushed to the back burner. I quilted it in about 5 days, and spent 6 hours ripping out three rows of quilting because of bad tension issues. I think I was rushing too fast to be done on Memorial Day weekend. I put the binding on last Fri night and have worked all week to get the binding hand sewn down. After I got home from class last night I finished the last side of binding up while I visited/watched TV with Paul. He starts his new job on Monday, so today's his last non-working day to stay at home and veg, so he stayed up late last night while I sewed. The back and the front of the quilt, with the cool binding. I have enough to make a pillowcase to go with it too. I'll get the quilt to the store today so it's there for strip club tomorrow.

This is the finished quilt

Boxed Blessings/ Pop Parade Quilt Top Done

Tonight my goal was get the blocks finished for the Boxed Blessings quilt done. I had them done by the time Dancing came on, so while I was watching that I put them all out on the bed and played with them. I talked to Jill for a while and then went and sewed the blocks. I was so excited to get the opt done. Now I'll just have to quilt it. I don't think I'll end up putting borders on it. It doesn't call for them. I'll decide tomorrow when I'm at class and have some opinions.

Here's a close up. I'm very happy with how my corners matched up, even though I didn't have a very consistant 1/4". I didn't square them up, but they went together well. I'm using the lime green check on the back and the same lime/purple stripe in the block centers as the binding.

Boxed Blessings/ Pop Parade Quilt

My main project for Quilt Retreat with my peeps was the Boxed Blessings pattern by Ingrid Barlow. Mom had bought the pattern in Sioux Falls because that's the one thing I really wanted her to pick up on her trip. We had just gotten in the Pop Parade line, so I thought it would make the perfect line to make these blocks.
I only got about 3/4 done at retreat, because let's face it I got distracted with other fun and easy projects. I left this one till late Sat. night and all day Sun. and I couldn't concentrate, knowing the time with my peeps was almost over. I had the main stack on the left done by the time I left, and all the matching pieces (the ones in the middle of this picture) sewn together. They just needed to be attached to the main part. Last night I started attaching them. I got about 1/2 done with attaching one side.

This is how each block will look when I get them put together. Hopefully I'll get all the blocks done tonight. We were watching the Survivor finale when I was trying to do these, so not as much done as I would have liked. With Dancing with the Stars and Bachelorette on tomorrow night, I know I could be easily distracted. My second and final night of Bag Ladies is Tues. night, so it's going to be a busy week.

New Retreat Projects

This weekend I started gathering up projects I plan to work on at retreat. My first is a Thangles Buck a Block. I got the light aquamarine for the background, dark teal for the stars, and purple for outer pieces. The bear moose fabric will be borders and maybe squares in between or something. Who knows what will happen? I just love the fabrics. I'm bound and determined to learn half square triangles.

My second project and the one I'm most looking forward to is Boxed Blessings by Ingrid Barlow. She's a SD designer and I love her modern patterns. I'm using the Pop Parade line from P&B that we just got in, the fat quarters are my blocks, and the swirly is for the inner blocks and binding.

This is the pattern I'm using. Mom picked it up at the shop Ingrid works at. I first heard about her through my friend Nich. Nich works with Ingrid's husband, so I sent my mom on a wild goose chase to get one of her patterns for me. She got 3! I may do the other one at retreat too, but we'll have to see.

I'm getting so excited for quilt retreat now! I just need to get this cut out and ready to send.

12 Days of Christmas and Ingrid Barlow Quilt

After my machine was in the shop earlier in the week, I finally got a chance to go full blast quilting tonight and get what I had planned to have done Sun, done tonight. I started with the 12 Days of Christmas wall hanging. I had been resisting it, but when I saw Jen's I fell in love with it all over. It will look great in my new office at work. I used a gold, green, maroon Rainbows thread from Superior. Let me just say I fell in love with it! It quilted beautifully!


Then I quilted moms quilt. It's definately not her normal quilt style, but when she was in Sioux Falls a couple weeks ago she found this pattern by Ingrid Barlow, a local designer. She thought it would look great in big prints, so she used some of the new Free Spirit prints and whipped this top up in 2 hours, start to finish with the cutting included for the quilt top. It's 41"x61" so not very big, but a great throw size. I quilted it using a King Tut brown/green verigated thread. I used loop which turned out really well because they kind of look like the fabric. The thread blended so well that it was hard to see where I had quilted. I'll take this to her tonight so she can put the binding on it and it'll be a store sample for a while. I think this pattern looks really cool and it works great with big prints. I'm looking forward to getting other patterns by Ingrid and trying them.

Tonight we're having a Christmas party, so I'm looking forward to celebrating with the girls. I'm finally starting to feel like I'm getting in the Christmas mood.