April Quilts

  

It's been a busy month for me. I've accomplished a lot on my goals list and still have things "to do". The list never ends. I spent several days at my dad's house quilting this month. I had 4 teacher quilts to do before this week. I have a graduation quilt coming up and I have 3 quilts that I've done for others. 

This quilt is for Karen and her family. It's an antique quilt and I quilted and am working on the binding. I should be able to finish it this month. 

Last night as I was in between projects, I sewed up 4 more of the side blocks for Rhododendron Trail mystery. I'm getting closer to being ready to put this top together. 

I finished sewing this mini Trip Around the World top together. This one is about 13" square, so it's pretty tiny, but I love how it turned out. 

I pieced Dapper as a leader/ender this month and quilted it on Saturday at Dad's house. The fabric is Nova and it's a challenge pattern for our online sewing group with The Sewing Center. 

My co-worker had a baby last week, so I quickly pieced this baby quilt from Amelia fabric I've had in my stash. I put a purple minkee on the back. It turned out to be super cute and I think I can have it done before I meet up with another co-worker to exchange and have her take back. 

Teacher appreciation is this week, so last weekend (when we had a blizzard cancel our plans) I was able to make labels. This is for Mikaela's writing teacher. 

I made her Bookends, another quick pattern from our monthly pattern challenge at The Sewing Center. I used Glamping Gypsies fabric. I am getting close to the end of my fabric from this line. This is quilt number 15 or 16 from that line!

Another teacher is an SDSU graduate, so I'm gifting her the Yellow/Blue Trip Around the World. I used a navy minkee on the back. 

My Glamping Gypsies Hey June was finished in March. This is for Mikaela's main homeroom teacher.  

I added a label to the back of it. It was too big to get a piece of minkee without piecing it, so I used a wide back in red. 

Mathew's teacher loves owls, so hers has pieced minkee on the back with 2 colors of teal (her favorite color) and a piece of owl minkee (that is also on the quilt she received when she was Mikaela's teacher). 

Mathew picked this owl pattern for her quilt. It's a pixiated quilt. I bought a pattern, but ened up changing it a lot because it was really poorly written (as in here's a picture and the shapes, figure out how to make it). It was really long and narrow, so I took out a bit to make it more proportional. 

Religion teachers each got a wall hanging or mug rug. I quilted these on Soft and Stable, so they are a bit puffy. 

My 3rd cousin's wife is gifting me a sewing machine, so I am giving her a quilt. I finishe piecing the top last week and then quilted it this weekend. This is before it was quilted. I didn't know what size it was, but bought 2.25 yards of minkee, only Michelle was talking and cut 2.5". It ended up being 80"x90" and wouldn't fit across it, but because of the mistake, I was able to make it work, just barely! I laid it out to make sure it would fit before I put it on the frame. I used a black flannel so it wouldn't be so heavy. 

A friend referred me to her cousin to quilt a couple quilts, so I have 2 of these to quilt. I ended up quilting the first one. It's really big and it took a lot of effort, but it's done. The 2nd one is loaded, but I ran out of time Saturday to quilt it.  

My friend Jennifer had a benefit and she asked me to quilt and bind these for her. I was able to get both of them done before the benefit. 

It was a busy month, but I feel like it was really productive. 

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

November OMG Goal

November is already flying by. I'm not sure why I think I have time to start 3 new quilts, but I have pulled the fabrics and started the cutting process for three new ones. My goal for the November OMG party is to make the Fractions quilt top from Stripology Squared. If I get it quilted and bound that will be the icing on the cake, but right now I'm shooting for getting the top made as my goal.


My goal was supposed to be to make the Peek A Boo table runner in brown and blue batiks. However, I ended up getting it finished this morning, so I'll set a bit more challenging goal. I have another one I would like to make before next Saturday, but we'll see what happens.


I'm linking up for November OMG at Elm Street Quilts.

October OMG finished!

October was a very successful sewing month for me as is usually the case. I just seem to finish up a lot of overdue projects. I finished 25 projects this month!
My OMG goal was to finish Strip Lash, which I was able to do before attending Gudrun's class at the retreat.

I finished up the 4 blocks for FGV quilt along. I now have two more to work on. I'm loving this sew along because it is slow paced and I can sew other stuff too.

I finished the 6th block for Gudrun's Dangerous BOM. I love this mystery!

I finished up two All Bottled Up bags for gifts.

I finished two purple Charm baskets. I have another 4 cut out! These will just not go away.

I finished the Peek A Boo table runner for a class I plan to teach in January. I have two more cut out to show it in different styles.

Eight hours of testing this month gave me time to work on my EPP. I got 4.5 rows sewn together. Progress! This hand piecing project is going on 6 years.

Yesterday I was able to quilt at dad's. I got Giant Starburst quilted.

I quilted Strip Burst and bound it last night for another finish.

I quilted Strip to be Square and bound it last night.


The best part of the month was taking a class at a retreat with Gudrun Erla of GE Designs. She was one of my "bucket list" teachers I'd wanted to take a class from. I loved every minute of it!





















The kids are loving the beautiful fall weather, so we take lots of pictures before school. Although for the next week it will be dark every morning when we leave at 7:20!


October Stash Report
Fabric bought this month: 8 yards
Fabric bought this year: 84.5 yards
Fabric used this month: 34.5 yards
Fabric used this year: 224 yards
Net Fabric used this year: 139.5 yards!

A Year of Lovely Finishes Goal Met!

This month I have been busy. I don't really feel like I've gotten a lot done, but I actually have finished a few small projects.
I met my February Goal for A Year of Lovely Finishes.
I took this table topper from just a top, to a finish to meet my goal.

I quilted it on the Bernina 730 with the walking foot using Aurifil white thread.

This is the scrappy back from the leftovers.


I also finished up the other sample using the same pattern. I'm not crazy about the quilting, but it's done and it will make a nice gift.

I finished the hand stitching on my EPP quilt and got the binding on it.

I also finished the hand binding on the batik table runner.

Mikaela and I had a mommy daughter day and we picked out some flannel for PJ pants for her and I got them serged up and finished.

I made this Kona tote as a sample for a class I plan to teach.

I finished the binding on my friendship quilt.

I also made, quilted, and bound this juggling summer baby quilt. I'm not crazy about it, but it shows the fabric and a kid will love it.


February had a few more finishes than I remember and I'm looking forward to what March will bring. I plan to QUILT! I have 6 quilts ready and waiting to be quilted, so I hope to get to my dads and get them done. I have less then 3 weeks of my graduate program done and I am beyond excited!!!
March Goals
Finish Seaside bed runner
Quilt SWOON
Quilt Wyatt's Quilt
Finish Free Motion Sampler

A Year of Lovely Finishes February Goal

This month is going to be busy for me and I'm just not sure how much sewing I will get done. Considering I went to retreat with friends last weekend and don't have anything to show for it, I'm not doing so well. However I did miss the first 12 hours due to being at my great-aunt's funeral, so I shouldn't feel too bad. I did do 22 blocks for my Black/White/Pink quilt and I started a sample for my upcoming classes.
My goal for AYOLF for February is to quilt and bind this table topper. I think I can get it done, but since it doesn't have an intended recipient, it will be a challenge. I have another one that should be done too, but if I finish this one I'll be doing well. I have a lot of samples to make this month, so I'll keep this goal simple.

I would also like to get the binding on this wall hanging. I've decided I should really put a chevron on it, so I think I'll pick something up and get it done quickly. I also need to quilt the other block that goes with it.

I am hoping to work on binding this one as well. I do at least have the binding sewn to the top, so I just need to sew it down by hand.

My other goals for the month include:
Free Motion Sampler
Seaside Sewing Table Runner
Kona Tote
Juggling Summer Baby Quilt
Wonton Quilt