Tractor Quilt

I finally finished up the tractor quilt this morning before work. I had the binding done, but needed to add the label. I wasn't sure just how I was going to do this quilt, but in the end I'm really pleased with how it turned out. The border fabric is so cute! Now I have both baby quilts done and I can finish up my Christmas gifts. I have one quilt left to finish the blocks, quilt, and bind and three fabric books to make. I'm feeling pretty good about what I have left. There are other projects I could make too, but it'll just depend on the time I have left.

The label on the back of the quilt.




100 Blocks 100 Days ~ 251 Blocks/ Day 94

One Block Wonder Finished!!

The One Block Wonder that I have been working on since May is finally finished! I quilted it over the Thanksgiving weekend and put the binding on, but it's taken me a while to get the binding handstitched down. I worked on it last weekend when we went to Sioux Falls, for about 3 hours down and 2+ hours back and still had to stitch the label on. Friday during lunch I finished stitching down the label, so now it's completely done! I took these pictures of it in my office, so they are a bit dark and the desk gets in the way a bit, but it'll give you a better idea of how it looks. The borders are wide since my MIL wanted it to be queen sized and I tried to oblige just as much as I could for the fabric I had available.


Friday night I went to a friends house where she hosted the most awesome gift wrapping party. It was lots of fun to see what others bought for their families and use a variety of wrapping paper. We had lots of snacks and hot apple cider. She has a beautiful home and it was so relaxing. This is one of the presents that got wrapped. We're hoping to get our tree up tonight and get it decorated.
I was able to get the last baby quilt, quilted this weekend and the binding on it. I just have the handsewing and label left, so it should be done mid week. I finished the top of the Figgy Pudding quilt and got the borders on it too, so I hope to quilt it this week. We got a new addition to our home this weekend, so I hope to have pictures later this week to share.



100 Blocks 100 Days ~ Blocks/ Day

Christmas Wall Hanging 2009

My 2009 Christmas wall hanging is finished and on the wall of my office. I love how it turned out, but if I was to do it again I would use more reds and greens and less of the cream fabrics. I used the Crazy Eights line from Sandy Gervais for Moda. Such a fun print and very contemporary. It's about 36"x45"

Sew Cal Gal is having a Virtual Christmas Quilt Show. Lots of interesting Christmas quilts on display and a chance to win fun prizes. This is my favorite Christmas quilt so far, so it's the one I'm entering.


100 Blocks 100 Days ~ 251Blocks/ Day 92

Figgy Pudding Happy Hour Blocks Done

Today is day 89 of 100 Blocks in 100 Days. I had a rather large gap in my block making, including not making any blocks in November, but what can I say?? I was quilting last month! Last night I finished up the 30 blocks I needed for my Happy Hour Figgy Pudding quilt. I fell in love with the "Snapshots" pattern in the Happy Hour book and most of my friends and I call this the Happy Hour quilt. I've made 3 quilts with this same pattern so far and I still love it. It's quick, it's easy, and it's contemporary. In about 1 hour total, over the course of 2 days, I had all the blocks made for the quilt. I hope to get them layed out this weekend and at least the top done.
I haven't decided what I'm doing for the border. I have several different options, so I suppose I'll decide once I get the top done. I'm kind of leaning toward the brown with teal snowflakes. The backing is the white with red and green splash on it. I also have some of the border fabric from the line and the brown/tea/red rustic one, but I'm hoping to make a purse out of those. I have some of the white snowflakes too, but somehow I just don't want to use that for the borders.

I was supposed to teach a Memory Basics class last night, but because of the cold all the ladies cancelled. Instead Paul and I used my free night to do a little Christmas shopping. I have a feeling we'll be buying right up until the last minute. We just have a lot of things we need aren't sure on. We ended up buying one gift and waiting on all the others. I had bought a few gifts, but we still need more. I am invited to a gift wrapping party tonight which I'm really looking forward to! Each person brings three rolls of wrapping paper, tape, and scissors. The paper is to be elegant, traditional, and kid/fun, one roll of each. While we were out last night I got what I needed, so I'm ready for tonight. I have about 6 or 7 gifts to wrap, but I think it will be fun to hang out with the ladies and get my gifts wrapped. I only have one of the quilts completely done and ready to wrap, so I need to get busy.
My goals for this weekend are lofty, but we're staying home, so I think I can get a lot accomplished.
~ Quilt & Bind Tractor Quilt
~ Piece Top, Quilt, and Bind Figgy Pudding Quilt
~ Finish Blocks and Piece Top for Crown Royal Quilt
~ Quilt Jenn's Quilt


100 Blocks 100 Days ~ 251 Blocks/ Day 89

Tractors Baby Quilt

Last night I got busy and cut out this baby quilt and put the borders on it. I think it turned out super cute and I'm looking forward to quilting it this weekend.
After I finished the top, it was too late to quilt it. I decided to work on my Christmas quilt. I'm using the Happy Hour quilt pattern and the Figgy Pudding line for it. So far I'm totally loving how the blocks are turning out. With any luck I'll have all the blocks made by this weekend and I can change my number of blocks completed for the 100 Days challenge. There are 12 days left and I think I can get to 300, but we'll see how productive I am this weekend. I think we are staying home for the first weekend in about 6 weeks, so I should get lots done.
This is the backing for the quilt.



100 Blocks 100 Days ~ 221 Blocks/ Day 88

Rocking Horse Baby Quilt

I've been working on baby quilts for the past couple weeks and finally finished one this week. This one is a Rocking Horse baby quilt with mitered borders. I think it turned out super cute and it's big enough for a child to grow with. It's about 46"x58"

Here's a closeup of the quilting. I used a King Tut verigated blue on top and a Bottomline blue on the back.

The label made with mom's embroidery machine. I'm really digging putting embroidered labels on my quilts.

The back of the quilt includes a strip of the border fabric, since the quilt was too wide for the backing. The backing has hats, horseshoes, and sheriffs badges on it.




100 Blocks 100 Days ~ 221 Blocks/ Day 88

Colleen's 100th Post Prize

Colleen, an awesome blogging buddy from Nebraska, had her 100th post a while back and drew my name for her giveaway. She made me this amazing wall hanging with stitching, applique, and the coolest buttons on it. The snowflake stitches are super cute. I absolutely love it! I found a hanger in my sewing room and decided to hang it in my office until we decorate at home for Christmas. Thank you so much Colleen, for such an incredible gift.





100 Blocks 100 Days ~ 221 Blocks/ Day 88

Tonic Sol Fa

Paul and I jam packed this weekend with lots of fun and friends. Friday night we went to his company Christmas party. It was a great meal, fun games, and lots of laughs. There were several prizes given away and the wives each got a nice ornament. I got to meet several of the guys he works with and talks about all the time, so now I have a face to go with a name.

Saturday morning we were up early and headed to Sioux Falls. We did a bit of shopping and had lunch before heading out to our friends Nich and Jon's house. Our other friends Cory and Angie met us there and we all went out to eat in Sioux Falls at Grille 26. It was phenomenal! We had some time to spare, so we went to see the lights at Falls Park. Then we all went to the Tonic Sol Fa concert at the Pavillion. It was a great concert and we all enjoyed it. We had seen them in concert before, so it was fun to get together and go again. Angie, Nich, and I used to go each year when they were anywhere close to Brookings.

Sunday morning we visited for a couple hours before leaving. It was wonderful to visit with friends and spend time just relaxing. We got to play with Mason, Jon & Nich's son, a bit too. It was a nice, enjoyable, relaxing weekend. We arrived home about 6:30, so not real late compared to the last few weeks.

This week I'm working on custom quilts for Christmas gifts. I got the first baby quilt done last night and have been working on the hand work today. They are coming together nicely. The customer I'm making them for will be back home the 18th, so I'm trying to have them done by then. I cut out a Christmas quilt too last night, but don't know that I'll get it done before Christmas. We'll have to see how much time I have. I'm teaching Lickity Split baby quilt tonight, unless the weather gets worse. So far it's just snowing and if you slow down it's not bad. Too many people were driving too fast today and there were several in the ditch.

100 Blocks 100 Days ~ 221 Blocks/ Day 86

Crazy Eight's Wall Hanging

Last night I quickly quilted up this wall hanging and put the binding on it so I would have a Christmas wall hanging for my office. I'd been meaning to get it done for past couple months, but it just never happened. I put it together on Friday night... it kept me up till 1:30AM! I love how it turned out and the red/green/tan King Tut thread was awesome to work with. I used red Bottomline in the bobbin. It went so quickly and I got about half the binding hand sewn down at breaks and lunch today. I have enough leftovers to make a tablerunner, but I don't know if I'll get it done or not.


After I finished quilting and binding the wall hanging, I was able to square up the OBW. Apparently I cut the side borders wider than the top and bottom, but I was able to just cut off the sides since the top and bottom were correct. I had been missing the black binding fabric that matched the borders. I had 3 different blacks and I had used one for the OBW, one was an extra good quality black, and the other was the black for the Crown Royal quilt. I knew the black for the CR quilts was in the bag with them, I could find the extra black, but I couldn't for the life of me find the OBW one. I finally decided to check the CR bag and it was in there! It must have gotten set in there when I had both at my parents last weekend. It may have been my nimble fingered niece, who loves to play with fabric!
Only 2 days left until we leave for Sioux Falls to see Tonic Sol Fa! I'm so looking forward to seeing my college friends and having a fun weekend. I love TSF and have seen them 8 or 9 times in concert and have most of their CD's.

100 Blocks 100 Days ~ Blocks/ Day

November Quilting Accomplishments

During November I kept my goals light so I could work on some other projects. I accomplished a lot on my goals, even if I didn't get them all completely finished. I was sick for about the first two weeks, so most of what I got done, was in the last 2 weeks of the month.

November Goals:
Crown Royal Quilt - Finish Top
One Block Wonder - Finish Top
Gobble Gobble Wall Hanging and Tablerunner - Quilt
Quilt Pink - Quilt
Label Baby Quilts

I got the Crown Royal blocks cut out with the help of my mom. I finished the top of the OBW and got it quilted, just have to put binding and a label on it now.
I finished quilting the Gobble Gobble Wall Hanging, Tablerunner, and made and quilted an additional Gobble Gobble wall hanging from the scraps, which all were bound and used in decorating in Nov.
I was able to quilt the Quilt Pink and get the binding on it. I have the handwork left on the binding and the label is made, but needs to be attached. I got all the baby quilts labeled and the first one was given away this weekend with other two to be given away this coming weekend.

In addition I was able to:
~ Quilt a Christmas Wall Hanging for a customer
~ Put Borders on a Baby Quilt for a customer
~ Embroidered names on the baby quilts and labels for each
~ Embroidered labels for the quilts I'm giving as gifts
~ Embroidered my dad's jacket
~ Embroidered three baby books for Christmas gifts
~ Cut and pieced my Christmas wall hanging
~ Taught my beginning machine quilting class
~ Spend 2 partial weekends at my parents while Paul was hunting

My goals for December are lofty as I took on a lot of Christmas gifts I want to make. We'll see how many I get made! At the top of the list are the two customer quilts I'm making, each baby quilts which both need to be quilted, binding on, and labeled.

In order of priority my December goals:
Baby Quilts - 2 - Finish
Cloth Books - 3 - Finish
One Block Wonder - Bind & Label
Quilt Pink - Bind & Label
Crown Royal Quilt - Finish Top, Quilt, Bind, Label
Crazy Eights Wall Hanging - Quilt, Bind
Crazy Eights Tablerunner - Piece, Quilt, Bind
Figgy Pudding Quilt - Piece, Quilt, Bind
Jenn's Wall Hanging - Quilt

Happy Quilting in December! 100 Blocks in 100 Days ends December 22nd, any guesses on how many blocks I'll have made? I have a target goal I think I can reach and a far out goal that Jen and I set, but I don't think I'll be able to reach. The follower who correctly guesses the closest number to my actual blocks made number will receive a nice gift in the new year!


100 Blocks 100 Days ~ 221 Blocks/ Day 79

OBW Quilted!

Last night I finished quilting the One Block Wonder. It turned out better after Tracy buffed my bobbin case and I used larger needles. The border fabric is the original fabric I used for the OBW. I still have to trim it up and add the binding, but so far I'm really pleased with how it's turning out. I finished the label for it this weekend, so I should be able to get it finished in the next month or so.

On Sat. I found some time to visit a quilt shop that was having a sale. I got the ends of both of these bolts. I'm not sure what I'll use them for, but I couldn't resist having some quilty fabric.

This is one of the fabrics I'm using a for a new baby quilt I'm working on. I think it's super cute and I can't wait to finish it.




100 Blocks 100 Days ~ 221 Blocks/ Day 79

Awesome Long Weekend!

We had an awesome Thanksgiving Weekend! It was so nice and relaxing. Wednesday I was off early to do some last minute errands before going home to start fixing the big Turkey Day meal and do some house cleaning. I was on a mission and didn't stop until it was all done. Then I set to putting my new Ott light together. It's a beautiful floor lamp that sits in our living room and I can do handwork or read under it. TSC is selling out of these beauties, so I got it for less than half price.
Thursday Paul was up before 6 putting the turkey in and baking the buns. I woke to the smell of the buns, so I got up and finished putting out the decorations. About 9, Leslie my MIL, and I started finishing up the cooking. Paul went up to a shooting spot and sighted in his rifle. We were ready when my parents and little bro showed up for lunch. After lunch Ed left for his friends house and dad, Paul, and Leslie took naps. Mom and I worked on several sewing projects. She helped me cut out the Crown Royal bags and put borders on a baby quilt. We had pie before my dad and Paul left to go to my parents hunting. After mom left, Leslie and I watched Survivor and the movie The Final Season. Later in the evening I loaded the OBW quilt on the frame, finished putting the mitered borders on the baby quilt, and made the backing for the baby quilt. I was up till almost midnight quilting and it felt awesome!
About 6 AM Leslie and I got up and went shopping on Black Friday. The one thing I wanted was gone, but I wasn't crazy enough to get up and stand in line. We found the other deals we wanted, had breakfast, shopped some more and were home by 11:30. We both took naps and after supper we went back to some of the stores and picked up the things we weren't willing to stand in line for during the morning rush. We had hot chocolate at Starbucks and visited my mom at Hobby Lobby. It was so fun shopping with her all day and very relaxing, very stress free!
When we got home she watched a movie and I started quilting the OBW quilt. I got about 1/2 done, but wasn't happy with the needles I was using, so decided to stop and wait until I could get some bigger needles. I pulled out the embroidery projects I needed to take to my parents and packed my suitcase. I still felt like sewing, so I went back down and pulled out the Christmas wall hanging I had planned to make in August! I finally figured out the measurements and everything was clicking right along for me to make it, so at about 1:30 AM I finished it up! I have to quilt it, but at least the top is done and I have enough leftovers to make a tablerunner to match.
Sat. I worked at The Sewing Center and it was very slow. I guess everyone shopped themselves out on Friday. My friend Jenn and her kids stopped by to see me, which made my day. They are both so super cute. After work I did a bit of looking before joining mom and heading back to my parents place. Paul and my dad hunted all day Fri and Sat. and didn't get any deer. We went to church Sat. night.
Sunday I worked on embroidery projects at my parents. Mom and I used to really struggle with the software and machine, but now that we know how to work it, I was able to just click along. I added names to a 3 fabric books I plan to gift for Christmas, made 4 labels for the quilts I'm making as gifts, put the name on a baby quilt I'm making, and embroidered my dad's name on his jacket.
Paul got his buck about an hour before the season ended, so we were later getting home than we had hoped, but he was super excited! It was a 7x5 point buck, so he was happy.
I'm hoping to finish up the quilting on the OBW tonight. I have accomplished a lot in November and with 33 hours worth of quilting on this long weekend, my November number doesn't look so bad.




100 Blocks 100 Days ~ 221 Blocks/ Day 78

Carter's Quilt

The third quilt I finished this week is for Angie and Cory's son Carter. He's 3 years old and a ball of fire. When I saw him this summer he was constantly running around and showed me his baby quilt I made when he was born. Since he's a big boy now, I figured he needed a bigger quilt. When I saw this one I realized it wasn't a whole lot bigger, but it was definately up his ally. I love the panel and I quilted it with 2 layers of warm and natural batting to make it a heavy quilt for playing on the floor. It's the size of a large baby quilt.





100 Blocks 100 Days ~ 221 Blocks/ Day 71

Hannah's Baby Quilt

My friend Angie and her husband Cory had a little girl Hannah back in August. I had been planning to make this cute barnyard themed quilt for her since before she was born. After she was born I embroidered her name on it and quilted it. I just finished putting the label on it and it's ready to go to her home. It's a real lightweight quilt for carrying around since I used a thermore batting in it. I'm taking it in a couple weeks to give to her parents when we all get together for a fun couples weekend.






100 Blocks 100 Days ~ 221 Blocks/ Day 71

Noah's Ark Baby Quilt

This week I finished three baby quilts, including the putting the labels on which I feel is so important on baby quilts that I'm making. I quilted 3 quilts in October and worked on the handsewn binding in Nov. and on Friday hand sewed the labels down. I sent the first one on it's way on Sat. It should arrive to the recipients and their new baby by the end of the week. I absolutely fell in love with this Noah's Ark fabric when it came in, but didn't end up buying it until it was almost sold out as I just didn't have the right baby in mind for it. Soon after I bought it, the perfect little baby came along and I was motivated to finish it. I hope the family I'm giving it to loves it as much as I do.




100 Blocks 100 Days ~ 221 Blocks/ Day 71

Christmas Wall Hanging

This weekend I quilted this wall hanging for a lady who just wanted a simple meander on it. I used a Rainbow verigated thread in maroon, gold, and forest green with a green Bottomline. It turned out readly beautiful and I think she'll like it. It's going to a ranch to hang. I fell in love with the panel.

I couldn't believe how perfectly the thread matched the fabric.



100 Blocks 100 Days ~ 221 Blocks/ Day 69

Gobble Gobble Tablerunner

I finished up the binding on the Gobble Gobble tablerunner yesterday too. It's a quick and easy pattern from Atkinson Designs Let's Do Lunch book. It looks a lot different than the sample in the book as I used a charm pack and she used a striped fabric. It's really quick and easy to put together and doesn't take much fabric either.



Here's a close up of the quilting. I used a brown/tan/black verigated King Tut to quilt it.

It goes in my office with the other Gobble Gobble wall hangings. I'll take them all home next week and use them to decorate our house for Thanksgiving as we are hosting.



100 Blocks 100 Days ~ 221 Blocks/ Day 68

Gobble Gobble Wall Hanging 2

Yesterday I finished the hand work on my 2nd Gobble Gobble wall hanging. I used the scraps and leftover pieces from the wall hanging/ tablerunner to make this wall hanging. It's 21" square and used up all of the orange fabric on the sashing/borders/binding and backing. This is the wall hanging I whipped together Sat. night at 11PM and quilted about 8PM Sunday night.



100 Blocks 100 Days ~ 221 Blocks/ Day 68

Gobble Gobble Weekend

This weekend I accomplished most of my goals and so much more! Friday night I finished quilting the Pink quilt. I got it quilted and put the binding on by 11:30PM. It's the most beautiful quilting I've ever done and the tension was awesome. I even quilted my name into it.
Sat. morning I got up at 6 AM and tacked down the binding so I could use it as a sample for our Market Review party. I finished up just in time to get my supplies ready for the demo and go to work. We had a busy Sat. at the store and I got off about 5pm. I demo'd the bias tape maker. At first I wasn't impressed, but the more I used it, it really is awesome. For those of you that iron your binding in half before putting it on, I can see this is the gadget for you! You can buy the tips for 2 1/4" and 2 1/2" strips to be folded in half and ironed! I hit a couple of fabric stores after work and then picked up chinese for supper. It was so good and really hit the spot.
I quilted a horse wall hanging for a customer after supper. Then I put binding on the Gobble Gobble wall hanging and tablerunner. Then I put labels on the 3 baby quilts I need to get sent off. Looks like they will be Christmas presents at the rate I'm going. Then I used the scraps from the Gobble Gobble panel to make another wall hanging. It turned out awesome and I had just enough for backing and binding from my piece of leftover fabric. I can't believe how much I got out of the small amount of fabric I bought. When I got the fabric on my shop hop in Aug. I had no idea what I was going to do with it and by adding the charm pack, I stretched it into 2 wall hangings and a tablerunner, including using it on the backs and bindings of all three.

Sunday I helped my MIL clean the fish tank really well and we didn't kill any of Paul's fish! I did some other housework and then we went shopping. We got groceries and a few other necessities. I cleaned our car out top to bottom including vaccuming it. It's spick and span now. It was getting cold out so I went inside and made homemade French Onion Soup. It turned out awesome and was so flavorful! I even toasted the bread and put swiss cheese on top. I served it with a salad mix and roasted pepper dressing. While supper was cooking and I was watching Amazing Race I pinned all the rows together for my OBW. That took forever!
Finally in the evening I went to my sewing studio and quilted the wall hanging I had made and put the binding on it.
Paul got home from hunting and he was exhausted! While we visited I did the hand sewing on the binding of the Gobble Gobble tablerunner. I finished it up yesterday during lunch at work. It's pictured above hanging on my office wall. It's about 32" square.
Last night I sewed the rows of the OBW together and pressed them. I now have the 7 units to sew together. It took me over an hour to sew the rows, so it's a slow process, but there is a lot of matching to be done. Today I've been working on the hand sewing on the tablerunner. I have lots of hand work to keep me busy this week!


100 Blocks 100 Days ~ 221 Blocks/ Day 65

Hunter's Widow Weekend

I'm probably not the only hunter's wife who is looking forward to this weekend, as I'm sure there are plenty. Since I was about 8 years old it's always been hunter's widow weekend - a time for the girls to get away for a fun weekend while the guys went deer hunting on opening weekend. Sometimes mom and I went to craft shows while other times we've gotten together with friends. Mom and I always have a fun time. This year, since her schedule is wacky and she hasn't been home for a couple weeks, I told her to go home this weekend, so we're not spending it together. I have to work all day Sat. and she's needs the time at home to reorganize. Maybe next weekend we'll be able to do something fun as I'm sure Paul won't get all 3 deer this weekend. Yes... you read that right he has tags for a buck and two does this year! I guess there is an over abundance of does.
Paul has been building his trailer for the past two weeks. My brother built the metal part for him, but Paul had to wash, prime, and paint the trailer. Then last weekend he started installing the boards on the top. It looks pretty amazing and professional if I do say so myself. It's been a labor of love for him and I know he's going to enjoy having it for his 4-wheeler and especially when he goes ice fishing to haul both the ice house and 4-wheeler. Last night we went shopping for the "hunting food" and a new knife and gloves. He was so fun to be with because you could tell how excited he was... kind of like when I'm getting ready for a quilting retreat. He reminded me he's going to be like this every year for the next 50+ years and I said that's okay as long as you remember that when I go to retreat. He's leaving tonight for my parents place where he'll spend the weekend hunting. Since I have to work this weekend, I'm staying home. I plan to quilt tonight, tomorrow night, and all day Sunday!

My goals for the weekend include:
~ Quilting pink/white Quilt Pink quilt & bind
~ Work on Crown Royal Quilts
~ Bind Gobble Gobble Wall hanging and Tablerunner
~ Sew rows of One Block Wonder together - hopefully complete the top
~ Label Baby Quilts

I think that's enough to keep me busy for the rest of the month, but I would really like to make some progress on each of these things.




100 Blocks 100 Days ~ 221 Blocks/ Day 61