Quilting Night

Tonight I was very productive on my quilt frame. I quilted up this gray fabric for a bathroom bag for my hubby. He said he'd use it if I made it and it wasn't too ugly. I think he'll like this fabric! I'll make the bag before he needs it next week, but getting the fabric quilted takes the most time.

I also had 2 fat quarters of this green/brown/black fabric, so I quilted it up too. I should have enough to make 2 bathroom bags out of this piece. I'll let Paul decide which one or ones he wants and use the other(s) as gifts.

It was stll early, so I loaded my tree skirt. I'm kind of disappointed in the pattern. I measured it at 47" and the pattern called for twice the fabric length for backing, so I made the backing. I loaded it and quilted it with a very small stipple. The stitching is small and tight, but that's the look I was going for.

I love the look of the King Tut thread on the center.

I got it quilted in a couple hours and I was so proud of it, until I realized that It was only 40" across and 47" diagonally. I didn't need the whole extra yard and 1/4 that I had pieced together for it. So now I have a whole lot of fabric left! I'm definately going to have to use up the fabric scraps I have left and make a tablerunner. After I got it finished I put it on the kitchen table and it makes a great tablecloth. I may be convinced not to make it into a tree skirt now. I'm going to think on it before I cut the binding.


I feel so good with all I got done tonight! I also layed out the fabric for backing the Essence tablerunners and got the thread out too. I picked out the borders for the one tablerunner, but was too tired to work on it tonight, so I'll have to do that later too.

Tree Skirt and Tablerunner

I'm being so productive in the evenings! It feels great. Last night I stopped at FC and picked up the two pieces of fabric I needed to make the contrast points. I had made them a 1/2" too small and couldn't figure it out until I measured. Once I remade them all, it went together really easy. I had also cut the center triangels too big, but that was easy enough to fix. This thing is huge! I'm going to have to quilt it and then cut the center out for the tree skirt part. It felt like such an accomplishment to get this finished after all the set backs I had with it. The little tabletoppers were so easy, so I'm not sure why I had troubles with this one.  This is the same Atkinson Designs pattern I used to make the Halloween table toppers.

It was still early so I layed out the blocks I had made Sat. night and figured out the layout for the Essence Baby Bricks tablerunner. I had way more than the pattern called for, so I just made it a row wider. I have to figure out borders and then I can put it together.

I'm not sure what I'll work on tonight. I'll have to see what kind of mood I'm in when I get home. I have 3 or 4 projects that could be quilted, but some times I don't feel like setting up the frame and loading it. I have lots of projects to get done, so I'm sure I'll be sewing or quilting something tonight!

Spearfish Canyon

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day! The weather was in the upper 70's and the wind was light. Paul and I took Missy for a drive through Spearfish Canyon. We stopped at Bridal Veil falls which was running full steam. We did some climbing, but didn't get up in it.

Paul took a picture of me next to it. I definately have a baby bump now.

Then we stopped at Roughlock Falls and did some walking around. Missy was not at all interested in pictures, but I did get a few of Paul.

The falls are beautiful this time of year.

We went clear to the bottom deck and took pictures. There are several decks to walk around on, so you can see the falls from lots of different angles.

We even found a couple to take our picture. It turned out pretty good!


It was a beautiful afternoon for a drive. We didn't leave until about 3:30, so we were later getting back, but still very relaxing and enjoyable to spend the afternoon together. Missy was done for when we got home. She was ready to sleep!

September Quilting Accomplishments

September was a very productive month for me with 80 hours of quilting time. I haven't spent that much time quilting since April. My September goals were all accomplished, plus a few other projects added in along the way. I'm hoping to get one UFO accomplished every month for the rest of the year. This month I got 3 done!
My Goals for September included:
Happy Holidays Halloween Table Topper - 4 DONE! I bought double the yardage on the pattern and had enough to make 4 instead of 2. I did have to buy one additional fat quarter of black, but I found that to be acceptable to get two more table toppers out of the yardage I already had.

Brown and Teal Quilt - UFO - DONE! I worked on this top at quilt retreat and got it finished, then quilted it at home. I was able to get the binding all sewn down by hand last week and put the new quilt on our bed this weekend.

Pheasant Bag for Dad - DONE! This is an overnight bag for my dad. Hopefully with the pheasant fabric he'll use it.

Ruffle Bag for Sample - DONE! A sample I made for Fabric City.


Zoo Animals Baby Quilt - UFO - This was another UFO quilt. I finished the top at quilt retreat and got it quitlted and bidning on it last week. It will be a gift for a baby born while I'm on maturnity leave and don't have time to quilt.

Grommet and Wallet - Wallet from the Wallet and Grommet sample I made last month.

Aunt Vi's Quilt  - Mom and I made tons of progress on Aunt Vi's quilts. I finished the top of a 4 patch/12" square quilt. Mom is working on 9 patches that measure 18" and should be another queen size quilt. Then we'll decide if we have enough to make a throw size quilt. I have the backing and batting to quilt the first queen, so hope to get it finished in Oct.

Essence Tablerunner - I finished the top at retreat and would like to get it quilted this month to use during the Fall.

Quilt Retreat - Attended the Badlands Quilters Guild retreat! It was so much fun and I accomplished a lot. I hope to join them again.

We found out the sex of our baby... yet we're still not revealing it! It's so fun keeping the secret.


Won Giveaway by Barbara Cline for her new book. I'm not sure what I'll do with them, but I'm kind of thinking of Sylvia's Bridal Sampler with them, since there is such a variety of color and lots of them!


Made an Oilcloth Bag - UFO! Finished this bag in 1 hour, yet have had it sitting ready to be made for over a year!

Attended Lindsey and Mesa's baby shower. Such a fun shower and a well received quilt. I'm sure they'll get tons of use out of it this winter.


September was so productive. I'm looking forward to October, but know that it may be my last month at the frame, so I'm preparing for it. Paul's working out of town, so I'm accomplishing a lot more during the evenings and not so much on the weekends, but that's okay.
My October Goals include:
Quilt and Bind Aunt Vi's Quilt
Happy Holiday's Tree Skirt
1 UFO
Essence Tablerunner

Fall Into Fall Giveaway!

It's time to announce my Fall Into Fall Giveaway! The leaves are changing and I'm getting back into the mood to quilt! From October 1-15, 143 bloggers will be having giveaways. Go to the Fall Into Fall Blog to see all those wonderful quilters who are participating.
I'll be giving away a piece of sewing themed fabric and a bag pattern for making a cute little sewing tote bag.

I've also collected several patterns to throw in too. The Stars and Halos pattern is by local designer Becky U that I used to work with at the quilt shop. It's a Christmas quilt, but would look great in other fabrics as well.

I'll also be giving away an Adoring Tote bag and the Schlep pattern to go with it.


With only 3 months left until I have my first baby, I'm going to be using the time to finish up some UFO's and different quilts I want to get made. I feel like I'm starting to "nest".  To enter this giveaway I'd like some advice on preparing for the new arrival. Give me your best parenting/new baby advice.
This giveaway is open to all US residents and will run from Oct. 1-15. Only bloggers with email addresses  or those who leave an email in their comment will be eligible.
Have fun blog hopping and joining in on the Giveaways!

Oilcloth Bag

Last night I went down to sew on my tree skirt. I figured I could at least get the top done. I couldn't find the Aurifil thread to match, so I went looking for it, knowing I had a brand new spool. Pretty soon I was cleaning out my fabric drawers, re-organizing the closet, and pulling things for my giveaway coming up in Oct. Needless to say I saw all the UFO's I have and decided it's time to get a few more done, so I'm not so overwhelmed with them. I pulled several to work on next month, but this oilcloth bag was calling my name. It was after 9 by now and I'd spent 2 hours cleaning! I did find the thread, on my other machine in it's travel case. Oh well, at least I feel better knowing what I really have to work with. I've decided something in batik scrappy really needs to be done. I have several small pieces left over and need to find a pattern that would work with them. I really wanted to accomplish something last night and knew starting the tree skirt at 9 wasn't a good idea, so I worked on this bag. It's made completely of oilcloth, with canvas handles. I used an Atkinson Designs pattern called Breadbox. It went together in under an hour and I love how big it is, without being too big. I didn't use any interfacing or batting and it seems to hold up well. I can't believe I've had this Oilcloth since Jen and I went shop hopping in MN last June and it took me under an hour to make it into a bag!

I stopped to pick up samples to work on for the store and Tammy and I discussed starting the Groovy Girls Club at the store in combination with our Girls Night Out event. I am so excited to get started! It sounds like such a cool program. I know I won't be doing it in Jan/Feb, but I can get it started in Nov. and Dec.  She was making out the schedule of classes and after my Oct. classes, I won't be teaching until March/April. Wow, it's coming up so quickly!

Flowers and More Sewing

I was productive again last night, I just figured you were tired of seeing the halloween candy corn table topper again, so I didn't take more pictures. I made another candy corn table topper, start to finish in 1.5 hours, which included the quilting and binding, but it was all cut out, so I figure it's about a 2 hour project. I also started cutting out the tree skirt I'm making from the same pattern, Happy Holidays by Atkinson Designs,  but I'm using the Adoring fabrics. I think it's going to turn out really cute in the end, but it's going to be huge. I have to wait to borrow a bigger 60* ruler as my biggest is 8" and these pieces are 11".
Last night I watered the flowers, cleaned, did dishes, and sewed! I'm being super productive with Paul gone. He called last night and they are working long days, so he was really tired. Usually when he gets home, he waters the flowers, the green peppers, and tomato plants, so I'm in charge of those now.
My marigolds are doing amazingly well. This is the first year I've planted them, but I absolutely love them as they remind me so much of my grandma Elaine. She used to plant them every year at the front of her garden along the pathway from the house to the garage and they were huge and gorgeous. I'm collecting the dead ones now, so I have more seeds to plant next year. These were my favorites, the multicolored ones.

I got a package of yellow too.

I also planted petunias and a geranium in this potter. The geranium is done for the year, but the petunias are hanging in there. I have a row of the petunias too and they are really quite pretty still. It's a good thing Paul watered all summer as I'm just not a good gardener, but love the colors of the flowers.


Watch for my Fall into Fall Giveaway starting on Friday! I'll be giving away a variety of sewing/quilting related items. One never knows what I might find to put in the giveaway basket.

Triple Finish Weekend!

If I thought Thursday night was productive, it was just the precurser to the weekend. Paul and I went out to the new Pizza Ranch for supper Friday night and I ate way too much and felt awful the rest of the night. I definately learned my lesson! Saturday we did our errands and mid afternoon I finally was able to load the teal and brown quilt. I can't remember the last time I've loaded a queen size quilt. I had the backing all ready and a wool batting that I had saved for it, so it didn't take me long to get it all loaded. I used teal/brown King Tut on top and brown Bottomline in the bobbin. This picture is the quilt hanging off the frame.

I did a mid sized meader on it. I did speed up the machine a bit, so it went fairly fast, but still took me probably about 5 hours to get it quilted. I went through 5 bobbins and 1 spool of thread!

I love how the thread looks on the fabric. It's all batiks and I just love how it turned out. It fits our bed perfectly, so I know we're going to love it this winter.

When I got done quilting it Saturday night, it was still early, so I cut and made the binding for both this quilt as well as the zoo animal quilt I quilted the other night. I put the binding on the zoo animal quilt, so all I have is the handwork left.

Today I put the binding on the brown/teal quilt and decided to clear off my cutting table so I could work on some other projects. I knew I had enough candy corn  fabric left to make another table topper. Since Oct. is sneaking up quickly, I decided to finish this one today instead of putting away the fabric. I made the top, put it on the frame, and quilted it today. I used orange/yellow King Tut and golden Bottomline.

I was able to quilt it in about 15 minutes start to finish. I also put the binding on it tonight. While I was cutting the binding, I realized if I was a bit creative I could get another topper out of the scraps, including the backing, so I cut it all out and have it ready to be made. I need a few gifts in the next couple weeks, so I figure I'll have them made up and ready to go when I need them.


This week I'll have plenty of handwork to keep me busy. I have the Halloween Table Topper, the Zoo Baby quilt, and the Queen size Brown and Teal quilt that all have binding that needs to be sewn down by hand. I feel so great that I was able to accomplish all of these things this weekend. In addition, I cleaned house, did laundry, and cooked! Paul's out of town for work this week, so I hope to get a lot accomplished in the evenings, since I do not have school or classes this week!

Productive night!

Last night was super productive for me! I can't believe how much I got accomplished. I cleaned house and straightened things up before going to my sewing room after supper. I worked on the pheasant bag and got it finished up. It really didn't take me much over an hour, it was just getting started that took a while. I'm please with how it turned out and I think the recipient will like it too. There are even pheasants on the handles. I have one piece of pheasant fabric leftover and I think I'm going to make a pillowcase to go with this bag.

The inside looks almost as cool as the outside. You can see the quilting better on the inside. I used a light blue Bottomline for the lining quilting and Golden King Tut on the outside and you can't see the quilting on the bag. I think that's okay, because it's not meant to show the quilting. The inside pockets are the same fabric as the handles. I used this same fabric 2 or 3 years ago to make my dad a rag quilt out of denim and he still uses it on the back of his chair.

Still feeling motivated after I finished the bag, I figured I had time to load a small quilt on the frame. This is my 99th quilt on the frame!! Since I want my Brown and Teal quilt to be the 100th, I decided to get this one done. I had completed the top at quilt retreat and it just needed quilting. I got it loaded and picked out a thread to match. It still wasn't 9, so I decided to quilt a path on it. One path lead to two and before I knew it, I was completely done! I am so excited to have this one done and ready for a new baby. I don't know who will receive it yet, but I have lots of friends having babies, so we'll see who gets it.


I quilted it with a yellow, red, green, blue verigated King Tut and red Bottomline. I meandered all over it.

I'll get the binding put on this weekend and have it to do the handwork next week when I'm waiting at appointments or lunch. I'm finally starting to knock out a few UFO's and get my list a little smaller!