Weekend Progress

If you are looking for the giveaway go here. :-)

I got a little more than a quarter of the quilt quilted this weekend without breaking any more needles. It seems to be getting easier. Unfortunately, we have important company coming this week so, and seeing as my machine and quilt were set up in the dining room and taking up the entire space, it all had to be put away last night. I was really hoping to get more done, but the weekend flew by. I seriously don't know how it went by me so fast!

Since I was feeling a bit bummed about not making more progress (and the fact that the weekend was already mysteriously gone) I decided to take a couple short breaks later last night to do some piecing which is the most relaxing part of quilting for me. Two breaks, totaling a little over an hour, later I had this...

All the blocks for my Four and Four Quarters quilt (aka Five, Ten, Twenty), which made me feel better since it gave me a feeling of accomplishing something during my weekend.

Next goal is to get the blocks squared up and pieced together. Seeing as my job takes up most of my time now, that may not happen until next weekend. But hey, at least there's progress!

Free Motion Quilting: Attempt 1

If you are looking for the giveaway go here. :-)

Yes, one week turned into six, but I finally got around to quilting my quilt. Got it prepped and ready to go late one night after everyone was settled in for the night and I could use the floor space. It is currently on the machine as I have been quilting it little by little.

Free motion quilting is definitely something one must get used to. I'm beginning to get the hang of it, but I still have some learning to do. For instance, I'm having a little trouble with this...

That doesn't even show the first one I bent when just playing with the new machine. And in all honesty, I'm not all that far along on the quilting yet. The needle that is currently in two pieces broke off after about 65 seconds on the machine, maybe 80. Seeing that I began a new job today and am tired, I decided that was enough for tonight. I'll try again in a few days when I have some time and I'm not so worn out by my new routine. In addition to needle problems, I'm struggling a bit with the tension being correct. I'm thinking I should have started with a smaller quilt to learn on, but I will prevail in this ... eventually.

Four and Four Quarters

If you are looking for the giveaway go here. :-)

Although Robin's pattern calls for five yards OR ten half yards OR twenty fat quarters, I decided to mix things up choosing four yards and four fat quarters. And now that I have my four quarters, I couldn't resist the urge to get this quilt going even though I already started A2's quilt. Late last night I finished cutting everything.

Backing, blocks, and binding all cut and ready to go. The list of things that need to make it to the machine continues to grow!

Speaking of those Kona solids...while cutting I happened to stack the red onto the blue only to realize that the red was significantly shorter. So I measured them. My Kona tomato is a full two inches shorter than the other three colors. Interestingly, the tomato color is 44" wide which is average for fabric. I guess I'll just look at the other colors as a bonus.

While I Was Waiting

If you are looking for the giveaway go here. :-)

My kona fabric finally arrived yesterday, but while I was waiting I decided to make the best of the situation and set aside the five, ten, twenty quilt and start another of my Christmas projects.
So I finalized my design plan for A2's quilt and got to work ironing and cutting her fabrics.And then while she was at class, I managed to get some piecing done.The problem at this point is that the quilt is very light in color. I let her choose the fabrics and I think it needs a bit more contrast. We'll see as I continue, but I may need to get a solid or two to put in the mix. I actually think I may need some additional fabric for the quilt anyhow for the design and size I've chosen.

Moving Right Along

Continuing along on my wave of motivation after finishing my first Christmas flimsy, I got started on another one last night. I cut 16 of the 20 initial blocks needed for the Five, Ten, Twenty pattern I am using for A2's boyfriend's quilt. I'm just waiting for the fabric for the last four blocks to come in to finish cutting. I decided on four different kona solids to use for the last four blocks, the backing, and a scrappy binding. They (hopefully!) match the colors of the electric guitars. There is so much going on in the fabrics above that I feel like a few solids will tie the prints together while giving the eyes a place to rest. Now to patiently wait for that fabric so I can keep moving along!

One Thing, One Week Challenge Complete!

With a last minute push late Sunday night, I managed to finally get all the parts assembled for A4's quilt top. I will warn you, this quilt is not too easy on the eyes. The bright and crazy fabrics probably won't sit well with everyone's tastes, but my baby sister will absolutely love it. Of that, I have no doubts.I have even managed to keep her from seeing it. She asked me one day last week if I would get her quilt done before she went to college - the child isn't even in high school yet! So I don't think she suspects she's getting it for Christmas.

Thanks to Amy for hosting the challenge. It was just the push I needed to get moving on these Christmas projects. I'm ready to get moving on the next one now. I ordered the remaining fabric I need for A2's boyfriend's quilt today. I think I might get started cutting what I have already for that quilt since I know exactly what I'm doing with it. I'm still not 100% sold on my patterns for A2 and A3's quilts so I'd rather work on what I am sure of.

My Christmas List

I have five quilts I need to have done by Christmas. One for each sister (3), one for my mom, and one for my sister's boyfriend. Each of the five is in a different stage of the process.

A2's quilt fabric is in line for the wash.A3's quilt fabric I showed you a couple months ago. I am making some finishing touches to the pattern I designed for this quilt before cutting it up.
A4's quilt is in the process of being pieced.My mom's quilt is on pause. It is the black and red string quilt I've shown before. There is something about string blocks that I love and something about them that I hate. The part I didn't like so much started getting to me and I put this project aside for awhile.Finally, A2's boyfriend's quilt I am still purchasing fabric for. His is the guitar themed quilt I've mentioned before. I still need three yards of fabric before I can get started on his. The pattern, Five, Ten, Twenty, is just waiting for its turn.

It is an ambitious goal for me, but one I really hope I can reach. I don't want any of them to see their quilts before Christmas so I am hoping that posting progress on here will help keep me accountable. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Little by Little

I haven't had lots of quilting time lately, but by doing 30 minutes to an hour of ironing, cutting, or piecing each day I've managed to put this beauty together....I love, love, love it! It was inspired by this quilt. Can't wait to start quilting it next week.

My New Project

A peek of my new project (which is much more vibrant in real life)...It is a lap quilt for me. I keep working on projects for others and suddenly realized how much I wanted a quilt for myself. Like my mother, you may wonder "Well isn't the log cabin quilt for you?" The answer is yes, but it is for my full size bed which is currently in storage. I want a quilt I can cuddle in when I read or watch tv. Something fun and pretty. I saw these charm squares on ebay and immediately fell in love. It took something like 9 auctions for me to finally win 2 sets of 60 squared which when totaled is the exact number I needed for the quilt I was planning. The second set arrived yesterday. I'm completely in love. And when my sister took one look at them all she could say was "Wow. Those are definitely you. It is like that fabric was made just for you."

Musical Pinwheels top is finished!

Haven't gotten much sewing done lately. Have got to have a lot of family time though which is nice. Lots more is scheduled in the next week so I probably still won't get much sewing done. I have managed to purchase quite a bit of new fabric in the last week though. You've seen some, but there is lots more headed my way :-) Gotta love sales, clearance, discount codes, and ebay!

One thing I did get done was the top for my Musical Pinwheels quilt. The border fabric got washed, cut, and attached. I still need to find a new backing so this one will get set aside for a little while now. There is plenty more to work on with all my new spoils so it shouldn't be a problem :-)

Musical Pinwheels Progress

Musical Pinwheels is beginning to come together :-) I found another music themed white fabric while at Joann's shopping for Colt's quilt so I was able to put together the four additional white pinwheels I needed earlier this week. After experimenting with a couple arrangements, I decided this one showcased each of the four prints well and didn't lose the pinwheel look of each block (which happened when I put too many of the same color pinwheels together). What I've put together thus far is a bit smaller than I had hoped, but I'm thinking I'll just put an extra border on to make it large enough for a lap quilt. I cut the binding I will need out of the remaining pink fabric. Now if I could just find the black I bought for a border I could make some more progress with this...

Musical Pinwheels

My most recent project is a pinwheel quilt for a family friend. She is a pianist and has generously assisted my sisters and I over the years with vocal auditions without ever accepting anything in return. I was inspired to make a quilt for her when I saw the black musical note fabric a few months back during a sale I happened upon. The pink fabric I had purchased for another project which has since changed directions. I really liked the look of the black dot swirls with the musical note fabric so I began cutting and sewing. The white fabric, which I pulled from my stash, isn't exactly music themed, but I think the swirls on it look like bass clefts so I decided to include it. I also have some piano key fabric which isn't pictured.

I am happy to say that my piecing is improving. The points on most of these blocks line up. I've only had to tear apart one block (the first one) to make everything line up and lay flat. I really love the look of pinwheels and am happy that I chose pinwheels for this quilt.

I currently have 20 blocks made - 9 white pinwheels and 11 black. I have two more black to put together. I'm trying to experiment with layout and borders to see if I need to make more blocks. I'm also trying to think of how I'll quilt this. Suggestions are welcome :-)

Busy, Busy, Busy

Oh my...it has been nearly three weeks since I last posted! In that time I have accomplished many things, though few are quilting related. First of all, I finished school. Then I moved. Then I helped my sister's boyfriend move. Then I helped a friend with her move. Finally, this...
Graduation day. On Sunday I graduated with my Master's degree. I can't tell you how happy I am to finally have it completed.

Amidst all the papers, boxes, and hours in the car I was able to get a little quilting done. My red and black string quilt is coming along.
Some in progress blocks:
And some of the completed ones:
And I managed to baste the disappearing nine patch yesterday.

Oh! And when I arrived at my new address this was waiting for me...
My winnings from Robin. So many pretty fabrics and a great pattern she wrote herself.

I'm anxious to get some more done, but have a lot more boxes to unpack and commitments to fulfill before I'll have time to make much progress. We'll see what I can squeeze in here and there in the next few weeks.

Progress and I'm a Winner!

This past weekend, I headed home to see my sister perform in a musical. She was the lead and did such a wonderful job that I ended up staying home for four days to see all the shows. Despite the stack of end of the semester papers and projects that need completed, I was able to sneak a little time at my machine. Sadly, I don't have pictures of the blocks, but I was working with these fabrics:I am absolutely loving the string blocks and can't wait to make some more. I believe I made 13 blocks. I think I'm shooting for 64 so hopefully I still love string blocks by the time I'm done!

More exciting news: I'm a winner! Last week, I entered Robin's birthday giveaway - her new "Five, Ten, Twenty" pattern and 20 fat quarters. Imagine my excitement as I read her winner post and saw my comment number and name on the screen. Usually, I don't know what my comment number is, but Robin had replied to all her comments with the number so as I scrolled down and saw '58' I was in shock and quickly kept scrolling to see if it could possibly be true. It was! She's already sent out the package and I can't wait to see all the beautiful fabrics in person! It won't be for a couple of weeks until after I move since I had her send the package to my new address, but it gives me something to look forward to as I push through the final weeks of the semester.

I have one more 'float' in my parade of projects to share tomorrow and then you are in for some laughs when I finally get the story of my original princess quilt up later this week. ;-)

Parade of Projects 2

Project BFabrics: Misc. red, black, and white fabrics. Some scraps and some cuts specifically for this project
Pattern: Strip quilt, but I haven't decided on the block size. I'm thinking 8.5" unfinished blocks
Size: Lap quilt
Backing: Red, black, and white checked fabric
Binding: Undecided