Binding Week

 This week was dedicated to binding quilts. I have lots of quilts quilted, but they were sitting waiting for binding, so my goal this week was to get 4 quilts bound.

I started binding the Twister table toppers I made for Julie. The little one is 17" and the big one is 25". They turned out great, but the binding on those inside corners was a nightmare. I should have stitched and flipped instead of quilting them. 

I used a Sweetwater fabric that has brands and barbed wire on it. 

Here they are stacked on top of each other. I hand-stitched the binding on these this week. 

I also made a wall hanging for my friend Pat for her birthday. She loves the Sakura fabric and while it's a month late, she completely understands. I hand sewed the binding on this one too. 

I added the binding by machine to the 3rd ABC quilt. I now have 2 baby quilts for when I need them for gifts. I was one piece short and had to look hard to find the extra binding fabric. 

I also did the binding on this Quilts of Valor quilt I made for a family member. It turned out super cute and I think he'll like it. 

I did loops and stars in RWB King Tut on this one. 

This weekend I put the binding on June, the quilt along from last year with GE Designs. I love this one, but I think it's going to be a teacher's gift. 

I used Glamping Gypsies fabric for this one. It's 73X93, so it's big! I quilted it the long ways as I had extra-wide red backing. 

Yesterday I got new struts put on my car. Look how shiny and pretty they are!

My brother has a new auto business and he put them on for me. It gave me a chance to visit with him and catch up without the whole family around. He does such good work. 

Last week I did my last gig of the school year with a career fair at Spearfish High School. I also did one at Stevens High School the same night. It was a lot of fun and my co-worker Susie went with me to the event. 

Saturday I helped 15 4-Hers make tote bags for our Pizza and Craft Day. It was a lot of work, but the kids had fun and they made some adorable bags. There were 4 sewing machines, a mom, dad, and a grandma who helped, and lots of different outdoor fabrics for tote bags. They were simple lined totes with webbing for handles. This is the 3rd year in a row that the kids have done a sewing project. 

Last Weekend of February

The last week of February flew by and now we're already into March and I have a lot of irons in the fire so to speak. I quilted this baby quilt at my Dad's wife's 75th birthday party. Her neighbors always want to see how I quilt, so I took the opportunity to show them how I quilt on my long arm. 

I used minkee with foxes on the back. I didn't have anyone in mind when I made this one, but my friend Pat loves it and her last name is Fox and she has a new grandbaby due soon, so I'll be sending it to her. 

I quilted up this Quilts4Kyds quilt on Saturday when we were at my dad's putting in a new faucet. It went together pretty quick. 

These are the true colors of the quilt. 

The backing is a flannel too. 

I made a bag for my cribbage board. It ended up being a bit big, but this way I can keep cards in it too. 

My dad's wife had her 75th birthday last Friday and my dad asked me to plan a surprise party for her. It turned out awesome. I decided to make her 2 table toppers 2 days before the event. They turned out great and I've already had a request for another set for a customer. 

I quilted these in Jan. I made three and got the binding on 2 of them in February. I gave one to a former students for his new baby girl. 

I started a new butterfly project. These are the corner blocks. 

 

Last week of February

This week is already flying by so quickly. We've had 2 late start mornings and I feel like we may have another one tomorrow. Monday was President's Day and I had big plans for a quilting day at my dad's house after the kid's dentist appointments. The weather was supposed to be bad (6" of snow and below 0 temps), so I changed the plan. I decided Friday that I would go out on Saturday afternoon, after morning haircuts. I worked on the side borders for this quilt until 10:30 Friday night (after my birthday supper at Fuji Steakhouse). I couldn't get them on right, so I went to bed. While Paul took the kids to haircuts, I finished the borders, mopped the floors, cleaned up the kitchen, and sorted laundry. 
Saturday after lunch the kids and I went to Dad's house to quilt. I quilted this little boy quilt for Jace, the son of our work-study student Megan. Then I quilted my pillow swap (which I'll show after it's received) and the HST Valentine L'Amour table runner. 

It was going so well and it was only 2:30, so I loaded my Hey June quilt which is 73"x97". It is a big one, but I knew I had time to quilt it. The machine would not work! I messed with it for 30 minutes before giving up! I set up mom's sewing machine and fixed my dad's shirts and a couple things for his wife. I put everything away and decided I'd come back another day. I moved the quilting machine and it worked! It literally was like God said, "fix your dad's mending". I would have otherwise put him off. 

Thursday I had a foot doctor appointment and had enough time to finish sewing this quadrant of my EPP quilt. 

So I quilted Hey June horizontally (as I had 1" of backing and batting on each side). It was meant to be quilted this way. It quilted up beautifully after the break! I couldn't find anything else that could or would have caused the issue. I don't know who this will go to, but it's quilted and that's what matters. I used wide back red and 124" wide white warm & white batting from the Sewing Center. After it was done, I quilted a 40" square of purple Homemade fabric to make some more by Annie bags/patterns. I didn't have a plan, but I just quilted up the fabric and will cut it out later when I decide what to make with it. 

Last night I sewed the binding on my pillow swap pillow, my valentine's table runner (but was short, darn it!) and then I had put these by my table to finish as needed. I ended up sewing the binding I had cut on these 2 table toppers. I just gave them to a student for an adoption fundraiser he is helping with this weekend. I didn't have any other thing planned for them and it just felt like they would help that cause. 

Monday night I finished the binding on Jace's quilt. I think it turned out pretty cute for a "scrap quilt". I was kind of kicking myself for spending $40 on backing and more background for a scrap quilt (which I think of as a free quilt), but I know it was the right decision to spring for the minkee backing. I did frankenbatt the batting together from scraps, so that was free too. 
 
Sunday night Mathew and I played his new Monopoly game. Friday was the 2 year anniversary of my cancer sister's DMX. I wore my Heidi shirt to work as I celebrated what being a survivor means for me. Harmony is the background quilt. 

One Monthly Goal - February Finished

This month has been a busy one. I celebrated another birthday and finished quite a few projects.
I finished my OMG with the quilting and binding of this Crown Royal table runner. I'm making a queen size quilt with the same block and I wanted to see what it would turn out like. I love it and the block is really simple, so I hope to have the top for the queen done in March.

I also made 2 Crown Royal pillows for my brother to match his quilt. I'm teaching a class on how to make Crown Royal quilts in April/May and I made both of these items for samples.

I loved the Positivity table topper pattern by GE Designs, so I used scraps to make this topper. It didn't turn out quite how I expected, but it's done and bound and I'm happy.

My son wanted a quilt for his teddy bear since his sister has doll quilts she's made. He picked out the fabrics from his "stash" and I used the leftover pieces from his bed quilt to make this small quilt for teddy. If someone doesn't want to make a Crown Royal quilt, I'll also be showing how to use focus fabrics to design a quilt in the same class I'm teaching.


My other February UFO's were Sprinkles - which I got all of the sections completed and they are now ready to be pieced into blocks. I'm trying to decide if I should keep them pink/blue/yellow or mix them all up.
I also worked on blocks for my Scrappy Trip Around the World. I have 2 completed and 10 more strata sewn and cut apart. I'm currently ripping. I figure I started roughly half the blocks I need this month, so I'll keep moving it forward.



I also made a bunch more yellow and blue Scrappy Trip Around the World blocks and Blue Ridge Beauty blocks. I also sewed a few bags and blankets as well. I quilted at my dad's and got my Black and White quilts quilted, so a very successful month!
 I'm linking up with Elm Street Quilts for the One Monthly Goal Finish Party

More June and July Accomplishments

June went so quickly and I found a few more pictures of things I made. July was a month of vacation, but during that time I was able to get a lot of sewing done. We spent almost 3 weeks at Hart Ranch and I did a lot of sewing in that time.
In June I made this bag for Mathew.

I made these small bags from scraps for a cousin Leif I was meeting the first time.

His wife Deanna received two Wizard of Oz bags since it's one of her passions.

Leif also got the Elk table topper I made as he's a big hunter.

Paige took a class from me and did so well. She finished during the two nights and was so proud of herself!


I made the Amethyst Project Tote for a sample for a class I was teaching at The Sewing Center. It turned out super cute and the class is going really well so far.

The inside of the Amethyst Project Tote

When Colleen and Jennifer came to visit, since they were camping, I made camping bags. These have a see through vinyl in the front.

I also gave them little yellow sweet pea pods.

In our first camper I made this Blush camper curtain to use across our door. Since we traded and don't need it for the new one. It is now hanging in my office.

I made this yellow and blue purse to use when I met the SDSU President.

This is the back and I'm still using it.

I had this Charlie Brown fabric, I made two vinyl see-through bags for my dad's wife since she loves him.

The kids went to a birthday party for their friend Austin, so I whipped up this Buzz bag for him. It's a little book bag.

At the end of the month the kids were off daycare, so we went to dad's house one day to quilt. I was able to quilt Twist and Turn, the quilt top I had spent almost the entire month of July piecing in the camper.



Yards In this Month: 3
Yards Out this Month: 11.5
Yards In this Year: 58.75
Yards Out this Year: 168.75
For a total of 110 yards used!