Quilting Progress!

I finished the Following Quilt Tops over a sewing weekend with my Aunt:

Jelly Roll Race v1

 This was the first jelly roll Race Quilt Top I ever finished. It was fun but very hard to keep the initial first few seams straight. I think I am going to try another one in the future as I got an extension table for my sewing machine that I LOVE LOVE LOVE.

NOEL -

I actually completed 2 of these Tops. One will be for my Grandmother in Law and one will be for my Mother in Law. Never never again will I make 2 of something.

All in all a productive weekend as I was able to cross 2 things off my to do list!

Happy Stitching!

Periodic Commission

A close friend of mine is graduating with a Masters degree in Textile chemistry after a Bachelors in Chemical Engineering. While we were eating lunch a month or so ago, she asked me if I could make her a periodic table quilt wall hanging. I thought about it for a minute, asked a bunch of questions, busted out some graph paper to map it out and said yes. Well I gave it to her on Saturday for her graduation party. I made a collage of the finished work and some close-up shots.

I really love how it all came out! The best part...it was all from my stash! Back to the needles of a large variety for Christmas!

Happy Stitching!

Quilt Top #6 - Allegiance

I had a quilt weekend in mid - August with my Aunt who has recently picked up quilting. I was able to complete a Kit I picked up from a local Quilt Show I am calling Allegiance.

2016 quilt top #6 - Allegiance

Overall I am happy with how it came out. I started the weekend using my Aunt's sewing machine and made a rookie mistake. I didn't check that what she told me was a quarter inch really was that and it was really three-eighths of an inch. It makes a huge difference on the start blocks, etc. Thankfully there was enough blue fabric in the kit, I could bridge the borders, etc to make it work.

The weekend overall was a great success. My Aunt learned a lot and I made sure to bring my machine the next day to make sure I was comfortable and to increase our output.

More to Come. Happy Stitching Everyone!

Quilt Top #5 - Heroes and Turtles

I finished the Quilt top for my Nephew - Super heroes and Turtles per his request. I made the design myself using some graph paper. I just need to get it to a long armer.

Happy stitching Everyone!

Quilt Finish #4 - Pink Dot

My 2 year old niece asked me to make a quilt for her after I finished the 2 quilts for her dollies.  her Bedroom is decorated in Minnie Mouse so here is what I came up.

I found 4 fabrics that had Minnie Mouse in them and then created a wonky square pattern around it. So I can say I designed this one. It is now waiting to be basted for me to quilt.

Her Brother, My Nephew, also requested on with Super heroes and Turtles which I am in the process of piecing the top.

All in all, not too bad on Progress.

Happy Stitching!

Footballs even in the offseason...Quilting is always in season!

I love sports and so does my husband. He is also super supportive of all my craft adventures. As such I thought he deserved something nice from his wife. I decided a Quilt for him to cuddle with while watching sports was the best next step. Hence the Footballs Quilt (pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew).

I changed the pattern by using solid sashing that was 5" wide on the horizontal and vertical in a gold batik with 5" cornerstones in maroon batik. Those are the colors of the University of Minnesota which is where I was going to school when I met my husband and are his favorite college team.

The next quilts are for my niece and nephew. I made dolly quilts for my niece and then they proceeded to tell me they were cold and wanted their own blankets too. :)

Happy stitching everyone

Long Time no Post

Well I am back from a whirlwind few weeks of travel for 7 days and then I am traveling again. But I do have a quilting progress to show:

I am working on "Touchdown" by Cluck Cluck Sew. It is super intricate in comparison to all other quilts I have worked on but I do love football. The end result will be for my husband.

One of my trips was to Ireland for the first time so I will be downloading you all on that in the coming few weeks.

For stitching...I am currently working on Pretty Little San Francisco by Satsuma Street.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Pink Quilt Tops!

My niece called me this week to tell me her Dollies we cold and they needed me to make them some quilts. BUT they needed to be PINK! Now let me be clear, I am not a huge fan of the color pink so the ability for me to make them all out of my stash was very limited. I was able to complete the tops from my stash except for a fat quarter I purchased. Here they are:

 

Pink Dolly Quilt Top #1

Pink Dolly Quilt Top #2

My plan for the weekend is to quilt them. Hopefully all will go well. I am linking the top completion with Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom quilts.

Happy Stitching everyone!

Tie Pillow Part 2

And for the second and final installment of the Tie pillows:

Father-in-Law: My father-in-law chose to have the brown tie's for his pillow. We had facetimed with him and he asked if I could do a light to dark like theme. I decided on Diagonal Stripes and a brown pocket back from my stash.

FIL Front

FIL Back

Mother-in-Law: My MIL was VERY SPECIFIC on the ties she wanted in her pillow and she also wanted a pheasant she had stitched on one of his shirts in her pillow. I am glad it came out as well as it did. She also wanted some of the labels on the ties because her father was color blind and they specified the color to wear the ties with.

MIL front

MIL front w/label

MIL Back w/label

Dear husband: I made my husband's pillow first as a test case. I kept it to the red family. I really love this one.

DH front

DH back

I will have a few more projects I finished on the next few updates I hope.

Happy stitching!

Tie Pillows Part 1

This past summer my Dear Husband's grandfather passed away. He was an executive who wore a lot of ties even when he retired. He was very distinguished. My dear grandmother-in-law asked me if I would make pillows out of his ties for her, my Mother-in-law, father-in-law, Uncle-in-law, Husband, brother-in-law, and cousin-in-law. I was finally able to finish them while I was off between Christmas and New Year's. I am going to be blogging about these in the next 2 posts. (warning this is Picture heavy). All of the backs were made with fabric from my stash and finished pillows were 14".

Grandma's Pillow: I used all of the Silk ties from Grandma's Pillow. All of them had to be interfaced so that i could sew them. I quilted 1/4" from each of the seams on the pillow front.

Grandma's Pillow Back

Grandma's pillow Front

 Uncle-in-law: John's pillow was blue and green. I stuck with 4" in squares and quilted in the ditch. The back was a pocket closure and was a blue Fabric.

UIL Pillow Front

UIL Pillow back

Cousin-in-law: My CIL is in the US Air Force as it his wife. I kept them on a Blue theme on the ties.
Again, I used squares, 5" this time.

CIL back

CIL Front

Brother-in-Law: This one was a fun one. These were the ties that were the most interesting (read: so ugly I couldn't Believe someone owned them). They were also stained in a a lot of places. So I went with a window pane design. I was actually really happy with how this one came out. The sashing was a piece of navy fabric with some bubbles on it that I picked up at a local quilting store remnant area over a year ago.

BIL Back

BIL Front

I will post the last three in my next post.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

An Early Christmas Gift

So every year I make my grandmother something hand made for her birthday and Christmas. Most of the time the gifts are combined as they are both in the month of December. Last year I made her a Quilt and a shawl. This year it was a little smaller in that I made her a tote bag and a key fob. To be honest, I was panicking this year. I had this great plan for a tote bag and an infinity scarf but time totally got away from me. Here is the tote bag.

 Americana tote bag back

Americana Tote bag front

Americana tote bag internal  - 2 pocket side

Americana tote bag internal - 3 pocket side.

This is the first bag I have made myself and I am quite proud. The pattern I used was the Twister tote by Around the Bobbin. This was the easy tote secondary pattern. I will try the twister one of these days. I used some fabrics I had in my stash. The cream was a random fat quarter. The solid navy was left over from the plus sign quilt. The 2 batik's were from a shopping excursion some time last year to the Fabric Shack in Waynesville, OH. I love that store.

Happy stitching everyone!

Early Nov. Finishes

So I have been spending time on the Cover picture from the Just Cross Stitch Issue from December 2015.

                                                      

This is my starting pic:

I also spent some time with my aunt in Phoenix, AZ. She is an Experienced quilter and sewer. We made a few things so I will shares those pics over the next 2 posts.

Key Fobs - Scrap Fabric

Christmas Wall Hanging - Scraps

Autumn Star Quilt my aunt had in her stash

We also went to a few stores in the Phoenix area including the 3 Dudes Quilting shop. I saw one of the more entertaining figures outside of their shop:

I made sure to send it to my father and Dear husband as my mom was also on the trip. Their response..."oh Heck no...we would be with you all the way!" Nothing like support.

Happy Stitching everyone!

Progress!

Well...I had hoped to have more to show but with three impromptu work trips back to back, I am just glad I took pics.

First, the Batik Bricks quilt is complete.

I love the full backing I splurged for at the long armer as well has how great the square quilting pattern plays off the bricks top.

I also have been working on another stocking.

This picture was from about 10 days ago so I will take another pic after this weekend to show progress.

the plans for this weekend are the work on the stocking!

Happy stitching!

Stitch from Stash-B Check-in

I have decided to take part in Stitch from my Stash Part B for 2015. July is the first month posted for the 2nd half of the year.

Month: July
Spent: $0.00
Earned: $10.00 (completed 1 stocking and christmas ornament)

Stash Used this month:

• Whole kit for the stocking
• scrap piece of linen
• scrap DMC
• 400 yds of yarn - trillian shawlette
• 1 whole layer cake - Batik Bricks top

I just realized that I have not kept as great of track of that as I should have for the first half of the year but I am going to give it a go now:

Stash Used during SFS 2015A
Yarn:

• 400 yds - trillian shawlette
• 4344 yds - 3 baby blankets (sand, Fruit Salad, Purple)
• 2100 yds - 21 dishrags
• 350 yds - Hitchhiker shawletter

Fabric

• Batik Bricks - 1 layer cake
• Bee's Purple Quilt - 6 yds - all stash
• Trivets - 1 charm pack and 1 fat quarter
• Christmas Table Runner - 1 Charm pack and 0.5 yds backing
• Zig Zag table runner - 1.5 yds
• Barcelona Quilt - 1 layer cake and 4 yds

Cross Stitch:

• Stocking - 1 full kit (14x 16 Aida, floss)
• Santa's Office - 15x18 AIDA and DMC floss
• 4 ornaments - 4 scrap pieces of fabric and scrap floss

Not bad for half a year!!! Now to get back to it. Happy stitching Everyone!

Batik Quilt Top Complete!

Seems like this week has been a banner one for finishes! I have completed the Batik Bricks Quilt  top for my cousin. My intent is to take it to the long armer as soon as possible.

Batik Brick Quilt top - Completed 7/8/2015

I can't wait to call this one complete. I can also count the fabric as used as soon as I take it to the long armer.

I also decided to make a pillow or two to match the Barcelona quilt top that I made last year. Here is my start to that.

Barcelona pillow starts

Well ...It's time to determine my plan for the weekend.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Monthly Goals Check-in: June 2015

Here were my monthly goals for June 2015 and where I netted out:

June 2015 Goals:
1.) Post at least 4 times this month - FAIL
2.) Get caught up on posts of finishes- COMPLETE
3.) Complete Cross- stitch of Stocking for a friend - FAIL
4.) Get Batik Bricks quilt to Long armer prior to vacation (That means finishing piecing the top too) - FAIL
5.) Complete 4 Christmas ornaments (These are great car trip tasks) - FAIL
6.) Finish gender neutral baby blanket and post about it- COMPLETE
7.) Tuck in all the ends on knitting projects (It is my least favorite thing to do so I need to make it a goal to get it done.- COMPLETE

With the impromptu out of state Funeral, I am considering the ~43% completion rate a success. I am about an hour or 2 away from completing the Christmas Stocking for my friend and will complete the Batik bricks quilt this weekend. So where do I go from here...

July 2015 Goals:
1.) Stitch from My Stash: really craft from my stash period
2.) Blog at least 5 times
3.) Complete Batik Brick quilt top and get it to the longarmer
4.) Get fabric picked for A&P wedding quilt and ET baby Quilt
5.) Complete in progress shawl and Cowl
6.) Complete 4 ornaments
7.) Complete Stocking and give to Friend
8.) Work on 2 other stitching WIP

Happy Stitching Everyone! 

Brick Quilt in Progress

Just a quick of a Quilt that is in Progress for my cousin Andy. The risk has been the fabric and pattern choice being masculine enough.

Brick Quilt in progress - Batik Layer Cake (RJR Fabrics)

Hopefully he likes it.

Happy stitching everyone!

LONG time no Post

I realized today that it has been a really really really long time since I posted some progress pics of any crafting on here! I am going to blame it on the fact that I have been on a work travel schedule where I am gone more time than I am away for the past 9 weeks. It has become exhausting. So when I am home I try to get a few things done but not a whole lot. On my trips I am working various shifts in a manufacturing setting so when I get back to my hotel...all I want to do it sleep. Hence...my update from the hotel before I leave for the airport to go home. I have finished 2 things in these 9 weeks but only took a pic of one. But that one has a hugely sentimental meaning to me.

 

 

 

 

Aunt B's Purple Quilt - completed Easter 2015

About a year ago as I completed my first quilt, My Aunt B (in the pic with me above) approached me with a quilt project that she started 32 years ago. All of the blocks were had sewn or appliqued on muslin and sashed with some other fabric. To be honest outside of the blocks, the fabric was in a sad state. The blocks themselves were coming apart at the seams. but my Aunt B asked me to make it into a throw quilt she can use on the couch. If you look at the quilt above, the top 2 corner blocks, the left middle, center, left bottom, and bottom right were hers and the others I added. I machine appliqued over all of the hand sewing she had completed. I replaced the sashing with some purple butterfly fabric (butterflies have special meaning to my mom's family), added a purple border and backed it with leftover scraps.

This project scared me as I had never done machine applique in my life but it worked out and most importantly, I was able to finish a project that was 32 years in the making!

Happy stitching!

Trivets!

I have also been plugging away at making some quilted trivets! This was a new item that I have not made before and utilized lined batting to prevent heat transfer. I used a charm pack of "The Ladies Stitching Club" by Oliver and S for Moda. The Backing fabric for them is random Fat quarter pieces from by stash. I started by using the Pattern at the Moda Bake Shop called Herringbone Hot Pads.   (see the 2nd picture below). Then I just had some fun piecing different designs. The first one is quilted using random straight lines.

Trivet/Hot Pad - The Ladies Stitching Club by Oliver and S

Trivet/Hot Pad - The Ladies Stitching Club by Oliver and S

Trivet/Hot Pad - The Ladies Stitching Club by Oliver and S

 I just need to finished the Quilting and Bind the last 2.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Barcelona Quilt Bound

I finally put the binding on my Barcelona Quilt. I first posted about it in July 2014. It was the first quilt top that I ever put together. I followed the "Double Slice Layer Cake" YouTube tutorial from Jenny Doan of the Missouri Star Quilt Company. I was amazed how easy the blocks were to put together. I also love the "Barcelona" fabric from Moda.

Blocks sewn together

Final top completed with borders

Close up of boarders

Binding close up - Broken Glass quilting pattern by Lavendar Streets Quilting

More of the Broken Glass pattern

I learned a lot during this whole process. I think the most important thing I learned is that no one is going to notice if my seams match except me. :) I also learned that a good sewing machine is key to a great binding. I love my PFAFF with integrated dual feed. It acts like a walking foot without having to put a walking foot on. I zig zag stiched the binding on this one because I plan on using the quilt as a bed spread on one of our guest beds and it will be laundered frequently.