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!

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

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!

A finish?

So in the middle of work and Thankgiving prep madness I was able to finish a few small items:

Fabric Box - Scrap fabric and interfacing

 I was also able to finish a few Christmas ornaments from a JanLynn Kit. I had started the one mug as a part of the January challenge that I took part in and they spoke to me to finish this month. 4 of the 6 are completed as you can see below and I only have backstitching to complete on the other 2.

Now I just need to find time to make them all into ornaments for a tree. Hopefully, I can find time between now and the holidays.

Happy Stitching everyone!

SFS A Check-in June 2015

Here is my Check in for June for SFS 2015-A:

Month: June
Spent: $0.00
Earned: $0.00
Complete Budget saved for part A: $170.00 (May Carryover 145 + 25 from this months budget)

I am actually extremely proud of myself from a budget perspective this year. 

Concerns: I am not necessarily stitching at the rate that I have in the past. Possible causes could be stress from the daily Job, More travel than was expected due to that Job, a death in DH family and a vacation but I have high hopes for the tail end of this year.

There was a glimmer of hope this past month: While I was not planning on having a week long road trip for an out of state funeral in the middle of it, I made progress on a new shawl and am about an hour of backstitching away from completing the Christmas Stocking for a friend. I hope to have pics by the beginning of next week.

I also signed up for SFS 2015-B. The budget has really kept me in check with goals and helped me explore the beauty of my stash in general.

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.

30 days of "Starts" - Final Check in

I have come to the end of my 30 Days of "Starts" in honor of Debbie Faris Bryant (SoCal Debbie). Many members of Blog Land are taking part in the Crazy January Challenge where they start some new cross stitch every day for 30 days starting January 1. I knew that I had a work trip planned for later this week so I wanted to start my 30 days on Christmas this year. I was also was allowing myself to work on WIPs in any crafting genre that I take part in whether it be Knitting, Crochet, Cross Stitch, and/or quilting.

1/13: Snowman w/sleigh - again from the Herrschners kit.

Snowman w/sleigh
Herrschners Ornament Kit

1/14: Snowman w/Dog - again from the Herrschners kit.

Snowman w/dog
Herrschners Ornament Kit

1/15: Dish Rag - Block #6 - Pointed Arrow

Pointed Arrow Block - Lily's Sugar and Cream Yarn

1/16: "99" by Ink Circles - I realized late in the game the pictures I took of this one disappeared from the first day so I only have a progress pic from last night. That means this is progress from about 7 days...not just one. This one is for my DH's man cave so I am trying to get it dome sometime this year.

99 - Ink Circles
Called for DMC on Cream Linen

1/17: Bear Ornament - This is great traveling stitching. I got 5 of these small kits a few years ago and am finally taking the time to stitch them. The Bear is first and he is going to be Cute. The finishing on this one will be interesting as I need to make it into a 3D tube. (insert face palm here) I will make sure to take pictures as I finish them.

Bear ornament - Dimensions Kit

1/18 : NOEL ornament Finish - This one needed a few cross stitches and all of the back stitch. I think it came out Amazing!

NOEL ornament
Scrap Piece of fabric
My choice in DMC floss

1/19: Purple Zig Zag Quilt Blocks - It started with the table runner and now I want nothing but to make more quilts in this pattern. I started making a quilt with white strips paired with a purple/blue Batik jelly roll from my stash. The pattern is sitting on top of some of the block below.

Purple Zig Zag Quilt blocks

I also have all the strips sewn together. Some are waiting to be ironed before they can be cut.

Rest of the Strips

1/20: Binding for Barcelona Quilt - This should have been completed so long ago but at least I am making some progress on it. I used white thread to sew the binding together because I didn't even pay attention when I started and I didn't feel like tearing it out as it won't be seen.

Barcelona Quilt Binding

1/21: Apron - Fabric Cut for an apron for myself.  The muslin on top is what I used as a template.

Apron Fabric cut

1/22: Dishrag - Block #7 - King's Crown

King's Crown - Lily's Sugar and Cream Yarn

1/23: Dish Rag - Block # 8 - Bachelor's Puzzle

Bachelor's Puzzle - Lily's Sugar and Cream Yarn

1/24 (and Final): Batik Squares Cut and Ironed: I gave my male cousin who just graduated from college a choice of a quilt or cash as a present and he chose a QUILT!!! I couldn't believe it but I am really happy. I cut some of the below fabric from scraps and some came from layer cake pieces I had left over from a project a while back.

Batik Squares - AB's Quilt.

Well here are my Thirty Days complete. I am going to post a later this week for some finishes etc.

Happy stitching everyone!

Check on 30 Days of New Starts

I had planned on making new starts every day from 12/25 - 1/24 in honor of Deborah Faris Bryant who passed away earlier in 2014 unexpectedly. She was the first blogger I came across when I started blogging and wanted to do something to honor her memory. I wanted to check in on the things I have worked on/completed since Christmas:
12/25 - Dishrag (easy travel crafting for me)

12/26 - Dishrag (again easy travel crafting)

12/27 - Table runner - I started piecing together the block following a pattern from Jenny Doan at Missouri Star Quilt company.

12/28 - Santa's Office - I worked on this one from 12/28 until today so far. I really enjoy it so I am keeping it on the Q-snaps. This is the picture as of Today. :) I have had this one kitted up ready to go for over a year.

Joan Elliot's Santa's Office
World of Cross Stitching Magazine from my stash
16ct. White AIDA and called for DMC

12/29 - Dishrag

12/30 - Dishrag - I decided to start working through a dishrag pattern book from Leisure arts that are quilt block patterns. This is the first one that I completed - Amish Diamond

Amish Diamond - Lily's Sugar and Cream Yarn

12/31 - Dishrag - Block #2 from the book. - 9 patch

9 patch - Lily's Sugar and Cream cotton

1/1 - Dishrag - Block #3 - Dutchman's Puzzle

Dutchman's Puzzle - Lily's Sugar and Cream Cotton

1/2 - Dishrag - Block #4 - Variable Star

Variable Star - Lily's Sugar and Cream Yarn

I have a few things in the plans for the upcoming days. It will be a lot harder when I go back to my real job on monday but I am really liking the production and seeing my cotton yarn stash reducing.

Happy stitching Everyone!

Yearly Goals Check-in and 2015 decisions

As we get close to the end of 2014, I wanted to check-in on my goals for the year. I set them last in December of 2013 and I added my status on them in purple below:

1.) Adhere to stitch from my stash SAL.  - COMPLETE. I adhered to the rules of the SAL and feel like I made some changes to my spending habits. I also promised myself that I would save my money for a new sewing machine and was able to purchase that they day after Christmas I got a PFAFF quilt expression 4.2 and I love it. I am sure there will be pictures of it forthcoming.
  
2.) Complete "The Lady and the Flag", the ABCs of family, 2 other mandalas, and my adaptation of the Dreamcatcher lap blanket.

• The Lady and the Flag - COMPLETE
• the ABC's of Family - no progress
• 2 other seasonal Mandalas - COMPLETE
• Dreamcatcher - COMPLETE

I think if I hadn't picked up quilting as another hobby seriously, I would have completed the ABC's of Family but overall..I think I made a Huge dent in the projects I wanted to get finished.
3.) Complete ornaments for the whole family (7). - COMPLETE. I actually finished 8 of them this year. 
4.) start 2 bigger projects: Noah's submarine and Brigid's shamrock. - No Progress - I kitted the projects up but did not start them - again I blame too many hobbies. :)
5.) finish/finish the advent calendar. - COMPLETE - I totally forgot that I even put this one on here but I finished it right before the end of the year. 
6.) complete piecing together 2 quilt tops, 4 sets of placemats and coasters, and 1 Christmas table runner. 

• 2 Quilt Tops - Completed 3 actually, 2 of them were longarmed, and one of those was bound and given as a gift this Christmas to my grandmother.
• 4 sets of placemats and coasters - completed 3 placemats and 1 coasters
• 1 Christmas Table runner - completed 1 for christmas, and 2 for gifts.

7.) 3 knitted baby blankets: (1 already assigned) - COMPLETE
8.) learn to knit socks. - Not Complete

All in all, I think it was a productive year. I am hoping and planning on doing more in 2015. So here are my goals for this year:

2015 Goals:

Overall: 
1.) Stitch from my stash on all types of crafting
2.) Complete my craft room
3.) inventory patterns and kits 
4.) Work on something new (either a start or a WIP) on any crafting every day from Christmas to january 25th - (i had to adjust the days due to a work trip) - to honor Deborah Faris Bryant

Yarn: 
1.) Complete 4 baby blankets - 1 is spoken for and 3 more (boy, girl, and neutral) to have in reserve.
2.) Learn to knit socks
3.) knit a pair of socks for my hubby
4.) Complete 2 hats for friends
5.) Complete 4 ft on my brothers blanket
6.) Complete 18 dishrags ( I need to get my reserve of this type of yarn down)
7.) Complete hitchhiker and 2 more shawls/wraps

Stitching:
1.) Complete ABC's of Family
2.) Start Brigid's Shamrock and Noah's submarine
3.) Complete 12 ornaments
4.) Complete 4 other larger projects including the Santa from H*ll

Sewing/Quilting:
1.) Learn Free Motion Quilting
2.) Complete 3 quilt tops - (1 is already spoken for)
3.) Bind my first quilt
4.) Complete purple quilt for my aunt.

The list is daunting but I feel like I am up to the task.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Sewing and Yarn Check-in for the year

So I thought a retrospective of what I have completed would be interesting for sewing/quilting projects and for knitting/crocheting. So I am going to start with the knitting/crocheting:

And with the Quilting:

Combined with my stitching finishes...I am feeling pretty good about things! my next post will be an update on year goals and plans for next year. :)

I have decided to take part in Wipocalypse, Smalls SAL, Stitch from my stash (helping Admin) !