Cathy's Friendship Quilt

Tonight I was going through my pictures and making a file of all my quilting pictures to print from the last year. I realized I hadn't shown the pictures of Cathy's Friendship Quilt. Several great blogging friends made 2-3 blocks and sent them to me in October. The only guidelines were 12 1/2" Ohio Star block, tan cream background, Thimbleberries colors - blue, marroon, green, gold, scrappy. I'm not a scrappy block maker, so this was hard for me, but I put them together with sashing and borders of a marroon paisley fabric.

I made the top at the retreat in November and had the design wall to put it up on. I love how it turned out. I was able to quilt it with a tan/cream King Tut and I actually loved how it all came together. Our friend Cathy will have the hugs of 9 friends from WI, MI, OH, IN, SD & Canada all wrapped up in the quilt. Cathy received the quilt the beginning of December and I know she loves it.  I also made a pillowcase to match, but in my haste to get the quilt sent I forgot to take pictures of it quilted or the pillowcase.

I love making friendship quilts and I'm so glad my blogging friends joined me in making this quilt for Cathy. We love you Cathy!

2010 In Review Quilting Accomplishments

Looking back over the past year reminded me of so many of the wonderful projects I've done. I can't believe all I accomplished and the goals I reached by completing so many UFO's. Sometimes I didn't feel like I was accomplishing much, but looking back I had some big finishes in 2010. I made a lot of samples, tons of gifts, and lots of baby quilts. I only made 2 for us and the rest were gifts, but it just shows how much I love making baby quilts. I went back through my Webshots album for each month and picked my favorite project for each month. So here's a run down of 2010!
January 2010
My brother Jim's Crown Royal quilt. This is one that took a long time, but I felt so good when it was finished. I'm making a second one to give to my little bro Ed. It's a good thing he's patient!

February 2010
I completed the top for the Keep On Quilting wall hanging I started at the Peeps Retreat in April 2009. I love all the siggies and remember the great time I had there every time I look at it. It's now on the wall of my sewing studio.

March 2010
I wanted to make a 9 patch/snowball quilt, so I started this one in pink scraps and some white stash. I didn't know who I was making it for at the time, but when my blogging buddy Colleen had her little girl, I knew it was meant to be. I loved quilting with the hearts.

April 2010
I didn't do lot of quilting in April, but ended up making this cover for my binder. I started my graduate class and I spent many hours with this covering the book with all my research.

May 2010
May was a really slow month for me. I was extremely unmotivated and tired. I now know why, but at the time I just thought I was lazy. I made this baby quilt for my friend Lindsey who was having a girl in July.

June 2010
I fell in love with a Jewel box quilt on my buddy 1I's blog and decided I had to make one. I used my purple scraps (yes I still have purple left from the wedding fabrics, even after this one!).  I love how it turned out, but the blocks were smaller than I anticipated. I ended up having all the fabrics in my stash. I made the baby quilt for my friend Janelle who had a little girl in April. She loves purple!

July 2010
This was probably my favorite quilt to make all year. My cousin Molly asked me over a year ago to make a t-shirt quilt for her wedding. She's very ritzy so a homemade quilt from me was not something I would have expected her to want. I made this one for her and turns out she forgot about giving me the shirts, so the night before the wedding I gave it to her, so was shocked. She loves it and uses it often. I love making quilts for people who appreciate them!

August 2010
We didn't know if we were having a girl or boy, so I made this sign language quilt that we could use with either. I fell in love with this fabric and turns out I have enough to make yet another quilt! Someone having a baby this year will probably be the recipient.

September 2010
In September mom and I attended the quilt retreat with the Badlands Quilters Guild. We had a great time and with plenty of room to work I finished this top for our queen size bed. I fell in love with the brown/teal batiks in OH and bought plenty to make this one. I love how it turned out and used a wool batting when I quilted it.

October 2010
My co-worker Jacey and I were due about the same time and her group had a surprise shower for her, so I whipped up this baby quilt for her since she was doing an animals theme. She ended up having her girl  12.24.10... I'm still waiting!

November 2010
Paul asked me to make a wall hanging for his boss Bob for Christmas. Their party was the beginning of Dec. so I worked hard to get it finished in time. I spent a lot of time on the intriqate quilting. He loved it!

December 2010
I made this sewing themed quilt on a retreat weekend with my mom in November and finally got it quilted in December. It's my "take to the hospital" to keep warm quilt and it's totally for me! I absolutely love all the sewing, crafting, quilting fabrics in it.


Probably my biggest accomplishment was the number of bags I made this year. It just seems like I was always making bags.
This year I made:
Large Quilts - 6
Throw Quilts - 4
Baby Quilts - 11
Tablerunner/toppers - 15
Wall Hangings - 2
Pillowcases - 1
Bags - 64
Accessories - 35
Quilted quilts for others - 5

I also:
Gave Away - 80 quilts/bags
Made Samples - 30
Finished UFO's - 14

I had 959 hours for the year at an average of 80 hours a month! I did a lot of hand sewing in that time which I've come to enjoy and cherish my small take along projects. I feel great about the number of UFO's I finished. I also was held in tack as to the fabric I bought. I have some left I bought for the Valentine Tablerunner and some for a snowflake table topper, but otherwise what I bought was all used this year! If I could just get all my UFO's done from when I worked at the quilt shop and was constantly buying fabric. I'm keeping better track of my stash usage and I feel like I'll be kept on track this year to finish past projects.

Udder Cover & Cash & Carry Wallets

Tonight I had my parents out for supper. Mom is continuing radiation treatments and my dad is helping her by driving and helping her walk. I made manicotti and it was delicious. Mom helped me work through a pattern I had found online for an udder cover. I'd been meaning to make one, just hadn't taken the time. It actually went together fairly quickly and I love how it turned out. I used some of the Java fabric by Moda. I love the teal/brown colors of it.

It called for boning and I had never used it before, but I found some and it worked perfectly. I had to buy 3 yards, even though I only needed 16", so I have plenty to make more. In this picture you can see how the boning holds out the front. It also called for 2 D rings, but I used rectangular rings instead.

It didn't take long to make the cover, so I pulled out the leftover materials from the cash and carry wallets I had made at Christmas time. I finished this project up by making the final 2. Not sure who I'll give them to, but I'll figure it out later. I was just excited to finish them.

I saw the Dr. again today and nothing has changed. So I may have to be induced next week. We'll see what this weekend brings.

Gifties!

Last night I arrived home to a big package in the mail. Since I wasn't expecting it, it came as a huge surprise! I absolutely love surprises in the mail, so I savored it for a bit. When I opened it I found the cutest musical bear. It's super soft and cuddly! There were several different sleepers and onesies. They are all super cute. They range in size from 0-12 months. I layed them all out so I could take a picture.

Seeing all the cute pink outfits made me ready for babies arrival.

The package was from 1I and Patti. They really know how to get to my pink/brown side of having a little girl. I'm super excited for her arrival. Missy thought the bear with the pull down music was a toy for her, so I had to keep it hidden! Thanks girls! I absolutely love them all. I can't wait for her arrival so she can wear them. I packed a couple in the baby bag for the hospital!

Burp Clothes

Last night when I was pulling fabric out for my hexi's project, I noticed all the flannel fat quarters I'd been saving to make burp clothes. I pulled the fabrics out and figured I'd get to them some time in the next few weeks. Tonight I wanted a quick project and decided I could probably get them done. I ironed all the fat quarters and cut out all 6. The fabrics match on the first 2, the 3rd & 4th, and the last 2. They are reversible, but wanted to show all the fabrics so you could see what I used. I picked up the pinks on the right when I was in OH as they were really cheap. The other 4 fat quarters came from a swap at a Christmas party I attended when I worked at the quilt shop. We were to make something for the next years party, only the shop closed before we had another party. I have the baby bag packed and I finished packing my bag for the hospital tonight. Looking forward to our new arrival any day....

My New Hexi project!

This week I'm finishing up the applique handwork on my V-day table topper, so I needed to prep another handsewing project. I've had this one cut out since May but hadn't started it. It's going to be a small table topper in a Chez Moi fabric. It's going to be tiny since the hexi's are 3/4". I prepped 10 to start with. They should get me through the next few weeks.
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Pillowcases Completed!

Well the count down begins, only we don't know what day it will be, so I'm just hanging tight and figuring I can do what I can until baby decides to make an arrival. I'm hoping it's towards the end of the week now since Paul is headed back to Pierre for another week. I'll see the Dr. on Tues. and guess I'll wait and see what she says, but it could be another 2 weeks before she induces.
In the mean time,  I put the binding on Vi's quilt and washed it up today, so it's all done! It's the last project on my to do list, so now I can count all that fabric as used. I'm keeping track to see how much I bring in and use, but think I'll update monthly instead of weekly.
Tonight I got out the serger and whipped up a couple pillowcases. I used the leftover fabric from the OBW to make this one, but since it was short, I added an extra wide top of black.

Then I made this one out of fabric I received from my friend Darlene. She got it on a trip and just loved the girls, so she gave my mom and I each a couple yards. I didn't want to cut up the fabric, so ended up making it into an extra long pillowcase to use on my body pillow.

Then I decided I had enough fabric left from my sewing quilt to make a pillowcase to match the throw quilt. I wish the flange had more contrast, but I was using up the fabric, so I'll live with it. I have enough scraps that I could make a tablerunner out of them, but we'll see what I figure out. For now they've gone back into the fabric stash.

It felt great to get these made. I've had the one cut out since I made Cathy's pillowcase a couple months ago, but I needed to change the thread and just didn't get it done. Tonight I made myself do it. It's not hard, just takes me a bit of motivation to do it. I love making pillowcases, so I really don't have any excuses. I have a great serger and it works amazingly, so I can't complain about it either. Not sure what this week will bring, but I have a few more quick little projects I'll plan to work on while I'm waiting patiently for this baby's arrival!

Vi's Double Knit Quilt

On New Year's Eve I made the backing and loaded the last of Aunt Vi's Double Knit quilts on the frame. My goal was to have them all completed by the time she comes back to SD. I think she's coming home next weekend, so I wanted to have them finished before baby comes. This one is a large 9 patch quilt. It probably turned out to be my favorite. I did a loopy loop design for quilting which was fairly forgiving of all the stretching. This one is 90x108. I used a green backing and thermore batting. I quilted on it a bit on the 31st and 3 nights this week, but I was still only half done. I did 3 rows every night, but it just wasn't enough. I didn't want to over due it though.

Today after a long afternoon nap, I was determined to finish it. I did about 6 rows before taking a break, doing some cleaning, and then I went back at it. I was finally able to finish the quilting on it tonight! It only took me a good 5 hours today!  I pulled it off the frame, squared it up and made the binding. I hope I'll be able to get the binding on tomorrow. This is my last pressing "before baby" project, so hopefully it'll get binding and washed tomorrow and be ready to go to Vi whenever we get a chance to meet up with her.

There is a lot of variety in the colors, so I used a brown/tan verigated Robinson Anton for the top thread and green bottomline. It turned out to work really well with all the various colors.

I also got some cleaning done in my studio. It sure feels good to have it looking nice again. I have 3 small projects ready to work on if I have time this week. They aren't pressing, but if I have time, they'll give me something to work on. Maybe I'll even get a chance to sew some tomorrow!

Groovy Girls January Sample

This week I've been busy completing the last few projects on my "before baby comes" list. One of the last samples I need to make for Jan. is a Groovy Girls bag. It's not following the pattern as I changed the size and added laminate to the inside, but it turned out really cute and was easy to make. I got it done on Wed. night and turned it in, so when baby comes, all the samples for Jan. GG's are done and I don't have to worry.

Family Christmas

My family got together for our Christmas celebration on Sunday the 2nd. We usually do the New Years day celebration every other year, but this year my little bro couldn't make it back until late Sat. night, so we waited till Sunday to celebrate. We all made it to church Sat. night as a family. The first time in probably 2 years that we've all been together for mass. My bros and family came over to mom and dad's and we all ate, drank, and visited. Sunday we fixed a big meal and everyone was together again to celebrate. We opened gifts and my bros/hubby/Steph went hunting. When everyone was back we took a few family pictures. My parents, me and my brothers, from oldest to youngest. I definately got my grandma's shortness!

Ed and his new girlfriend Steph. Ed's living in ND and working on an oil rig, so this was the first time he'd been home since Thanksgiving. It was so good to have him there and we all really liked Steph. She fits right in with the rest of the hunters.

Paul and I even got a picture taken.

It was such an enjoyable day and we all had a great time. Hopefully we'll be together again in a few months when Ed's home again.

December Quilting Accomplishments

December was a fairly productive month, even though I spent one week visiting at the hospital and the last week not doing much of anything. My goals for the month included:
Baby Bag - Bought instead of made, couldn't find fabric I liked.

BOM Setting Blocks - No progress, no motivation!

Quilt OBW - Done - including the binding. It's amazing how much hand stitched binding can be done in an ER room for 7+ hours!

Quilt Sewing Themed Quilt aka my hospital quilt - DONE! So excited to get to use it, but baby is just not ready to make her appearance yet.

In addition to my goals I also accomplished several other smaller projects:

Quilted Christmas throw for Karen's holiday party. Love how the metallic thread on it turned out.

Finished the quilting and binding on Aunt Vi's second Double Knit quilt. Hate quilting DK - it stretches all over the place!

Made a Christmas Margo out of Figgy Pudding. It really doesn't look all that Christmasy which I love about it.

Made 4 Java Cash and Carry wallets for my co-worker friends.

Made 10 coasters from the 2 charm packs Sew Cindy sent me for her giveaway. Gave them to my 10 co-workers in the registrar's office.

Finished sewing all the hexi's together into a Valentine's table runner while spending evenings at the hospital with mom. I am now in the process of appliquing it by hand to the background.

Finished an iron holder for a sample of travel totes for Groovy Girls.

Made the Large bag for a Groovy Girls sample.

On New Year's Eve we were snowed in with a blizzard, so I made the backing and loaded Aunt Vi's third and last quilt on the frame. I was able to get 3 rows done before calling it a night. It's a huge quilt! I did quilt a bit more on it last night, so hopefully if I do a little every night I'll have it done by this weekend.
All in all I had 80 hours for December. A lot of those hours were hand sewing! I have my next Hexi project cut out and ready to work on, since I forsee lots more waiting in Drs. offices this year.
I'm working on a re-cap of 2010, but there's a lot so it will have to wait for another time.
My January Goals include:
Finish Laminated Travel bag
Quilt Vi's last DK quilt
Snowflake Table Topper
Have Baby!