December goals and progress

Happy New Year's Eve!

I made progress on both my goals:

Quilting the baby's crib star sampler.

Cut all pieces for the final 2 blocks of 2015 Pat Sloan Mystery.

Today, I also played with my new machine, Katrina. Isn't this snowman cute?!!! I followed the Quick Start Guide, and the snowman is the design the guide used to get started with embroidery unit. It was definitely a process--the snowman has 15 colors! I got pretty good at threading the machine to change colors, finding thread colors in my stash that are similar in the guide, and using the menus and function buttons. I also used just about all my types of thread that I have to get the colors, from Superior Masterpiece, to Connecting Threads Cotton, to Gutermann and Mettler polyester, and the Sulky rayon. It was a good opportunity to try out the threads and see which I liked and which Katrina seemed to like.

Does anyone know some places for good embroidery thread deals, especially for starter packs of multiple colors? Which types do your Bernina/Bernette embroidery machines like?

Merry Christmas--After

Hi all!

I meant to post on Christmas, but I guess I just posted on Facebook! Whoops!

Christmas at our house was splintered into a few pieces. My husband's shift at the firehouse should have been working both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but his department decided to split it with C shift. My husband worked the 23rd, drove home on Christmas Eve morning and we did family gifts. My husband's family came for the afternoon and dinner with gifts. My boys love their uncles and grandma.

Then I went to work for a few hours in the evening. When I got home, my husband was ready for bed, so I played Santa and put out gifts, sorted stockings, and put out cookies and drank milk. Ha ha ha. Hubby left for work in a snowstorm Christmas morning, and the boys were so excited for "Santa".

Christmas was fun, though.

He loves Nick Jr's Paw Patrol!

The older boys love Star Wars and Marvel Avengers.

Santa got me a special gift: a new Bernina Bernette, Chicago 7. It's got very similar features to my Bernina 1090, it's a little smaller, but it has embroidery module, and lots more decorative stitches. Hubby/Santa even bought me the embroidery computer software to go with it! The maximum embroidery area is only a 5x7 hoop, but that's a great start. My favorite Bernina dealer is so wonderful, Dave's Bernina in Provo, Utah. It was an amazing deal from corporate Bernina, which included a free Bernina suitcase!

During the past few days, I've been making some space for my new machine, unpacking it, trying it out.

I think her name is Katrina, to honor my Scandinavian roots. Ha-ha, it's close anyway, since Bernina is Swiss !

I've also been working on the baby's star sampler quilting. I've finished up all the ditch-stitching/outlining, and started some free-motion work.

Then we had Seamus's birthday. I can't believe he's 9 years old already!

We had a great time with family again on Sunday for gifts, dinner, and cake. Then Monday, we took the boys bowling and yummy lunch at Cracker Barrell ! (That's our new favorite, family-friendly, yummy-comfort-food restaurant to eat at.) My brothers-in-law came again to play and eat, and my dad came as well. I'm so happy that my Dad was able to get a new job in Utah and move back "home". Seattle is just too far away, and we're enjoying having Grandpa near us!

It was the baby's first time bowling, and I was thrilled to get the look of pure joy on his face as he watched his bowling ball hit some pins!

Blowing out some candles! I let my firefighter hubby light candles.

December 2015 goal

Gee, I really fell off the goal-setting wagon this year, didn't I ? No wonder I haven't gotten any complete quilts finished this year?

My goal for the month is to:

A: quilt the baby's star sampler

B: cut and piece the finishing blocks and sashing for Pat Sloan's Mystery quilt. (And hopefully piece the quilt top together.)

I should be able to handle that, right?

Oh, and please give a prayer and a thought to Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. 74 years ago, today.

Friday finish

Hey hey hey!

It's been so long since I've had a finish!

I finally dug into my stash and made the Brown Bear by Eric Carle from the kit I purchased from Fons and Porter Love of Quilting, several years ago. Even though I dipped into the kit to make this teacher gift,

I still needed to make the quilt in the pattern/kit. Amazingly, I had enough fabric to make the quilt two rows longer than the pattern called for, and the only thing I substituted was a solid red for the inside sashing instead of the stripe. I didn't need to order any extra fabric! (Good thing, too, because the fabric is out of print by Andover, and is very hard to find. I can't find any of the panel print.)

So, I have no idea what I'm going to use for backing, since I'll need about 5 yards.

Any ideas?

Go with something bright but totally different?

Find some other print of Eric Carle's books to use for backing? (Andover got the licensing to produce fabric from his books.)

Stats:

Unfinished top: about 62" x 76"

My toddler loves the Brown Bear book right now. You should hear him try to "gu-ack" like the duck or pant like the dog.

Brown Bear

Hi all,

It's a good thing I can type, because I can't talk, because of this nasty cold virus! I'm the last one in my family to get sick the past two weeks.

The baby's star sampler is all basted and ready to quilt.

I finally dug into the Fons and Porter kit of "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" (book by Eric Carle). My baby loves the book, and I've had the kit for quite a while, so I really need to get it made while my boys are still little.

The center of the top is finished. It needs trimming on the sides, since I matched centers. Because I had dipped into the kit for the teacher's quilt, I didn't have enough stripe for sashing. I used my favorite Legacy Solid Red for the sashing,  since it matched the collection and red animal tone-on-tone print quite well.

Now all the borders need to be cut and attached. How fun. Hope I have enough!

Progress

Quilting the Swoon, and I'm almost finished with red background quilting. It really does pay off to do some Free-Motion Quilting every day. I'm feeling more relaxed and comfortable, and I'm getting more confident. I'm just limited in space, and somehow feel that if I had more space to maneuver, my lines could be straighter.

This quilt is so heavy! And big!

Here's my little handsome munchkin! Isn't he getting so big?!!! I can't believe he's 20 months old! He's a little climber, a cuddler, and into everything! Yes, he climbed into the table and onto the quilt. He thinks it's fun to climb in mama's lap and "help" by pushing all the button settings. Hence, I put the hard machine cover over the top of the machine, when I'm finished or ready to step away.

Ha, this is the other night...I ran out of thread, just as I finished that red background triangle. That is the edge of the center block!

It doesn't feel like I'm making progress, but if I've finished another spool, that proves progress, right?!!!!!

Tonight, I'll do a bit more, then pull the quilt flat to see if I missed any background sections yet.

I'm also finishing up the hot glue on my design walls. Hubby is on shift, and my goal is to get them finished before he gets off. That way, they will be ready to hang when he gets home. He actually bought the wall hooks, months ago! He's picky about wall mounts and scews, and using the drill. And he'll actually need to measure some.

What I used:

--2 Fons and Porter Design Walls (basically felt-covered vinyl sheets with a 2" printed grid"

--2 cardboard cutting boards

--plenty of office staples and a standard stapler

--duct tape

--hot glue

First I measured and stapled the Design Walls to the top of the cutting boards, deciding where I wanted the hanging grommets. Then, I stapled along that top edge, and started down one side. Then I moved from the grommets and followed along the opposite side, pulling the vinyl slightly taut against the cardboard and stapling. I did need to trim the vinyl because it was too wide for the boards. I made sure to bend the staple points to lay flat on the back side. Then I covered all the raw edges with duct tape, especially where the staples were...one, to cover the staple backs and prevent the staples from snagging, and two, to create a nicer visual edge. After I worked on the first, I've noticed that the duct tape kept curling away from the felt...not creating a nice stick. I tried Tacky Glue, then tried hot glue. I like the hot glue for bonding the tape into the felt fibers.

Wa-la ! Two design boards that I can hang on a wall. Each a little more than 36" wide and about 72" long. Stiff, lightweight, foldable, portable. I can taken them down to take to a class, or take a project with me, or hang them on a different wall. Or even lay them on the floor and cut big pieces of batting off the roll, or measure backing.

September report

Hi!

Finished or progress in September:

#1: started making more progress on quilting the Swoon!

Finished 2 blocks (one is really a border), in Pat Sloan's BOM.

Finished a back for a mini-quilt.

Finished a Row by Row kit that I received from belonging to a row swap group!

Made cute little scissor holders from a Moda Bake Shop pattern.

Submitted my Star Hope quilt in the Peteetneet Quilt Show, and received 3rd place in Wallhanging category. Whee!!!!!

I nearly have my design wall panels finished. Then hubby needs to drill in hooks to hang them on the wall.

I guess I got more finished than I thought!

Goodnight all !

Little bits

Ok!

Finished some parts of things the past few days.

#PatSloan2015

Mystery quilt along:

Finished month 8: Salt Water Taffy border

So cute! I used the last of my two fat quarters of the cute butterfly/dandelion on pale purple (fabric #2 in the fabric palette) to alternate with the background solid.

Finished Month 9: Ferris Wheel block

Tonight, I finished up the backing on the mini-quilt #ModaLove made with a Kate a Spain Solstice mini-charm pack.

These rectangles are what's left after cutting all the charms for the Kate Spain Christmas charm swap. There's mostly Solstice, and the white/red snowflake print is from Jingle, this year's Christmas collection. Then I filled in with spacers of solid red from Legacy Studios. I really really adore Solstice and Jingle prints.

Now I just need to decide if I'm making a mini-quilt for the wall, or a Christmas pillow. It is roughly 20" square.

How do you vote: quilt or pillow?

Peteetneet Quilt Show 2015

Hi!

This morning I went to work. On my way home, I met my best friend at the Peteetneet Quilt Show (and had lunch after!).

I was so amazed and pleased to see that my Hope Star received a Third Place ribbon in the Wall Quilt category !

Here's some of my favorites:

This next one took Best in Show!

Here's a cool autumn sampler:

Here's a civil war swap quilt:

I might join a swap like this soon.

ALYOF-September goal

I honestly have no clue what to set my goal for. I feel like I've got such a mountain of projects that I'll never get through it all.

I haven't even blogged or posted on Facebook, because I've been busy but not progressing much on projects.

However, I still want to finish a project for the Peteetneet Quilt Show this month. I think my best bet for that is still the Swoon.

I better go find out when the quilt show takes entries!

I really want to participate in the Sew Fresh Quilt-Along for Dog Gone Cute! It just started this week. But, we all know how fast I am....the Elephant Parade top and backing are finished, and it still needs layering and quilting!

ALYOF: August report

No, I didn't even get to touch the Swoon quilting.

Yes, I got my mug rugs finished for the swap. They need to get mailed/delivered.

I finished cutting, and started chain piecing, the Pat Sloan BOM August border blocks.

I did a bit more on my Hawaiian appliqué.

Almost mug rugs

Wishing you a happy, restful, peaceful Sunday.

I joined a charm swap group on Facebook this past year. This month, we are having a little swap for mug rugs. 

I have finished piecing and sewing borders on my little mug rugs.

I used the bonus HST from my Pat Sloan 2015 Mystery BOM blocks.

I love how the top left block looks like a flower. Hmmm, now looking at the picture, I think it needs a dark purple border around the flower.

I love the spinner pinwheel and the little Colorado block, too. I love them all!

ALYOF August 2015 goals

How the heck is it August already, and my birthday next week? I don't get it.

I really fell off the goal-making wagon this year. It's not that I haven't made them; it's just that I keep missing the deadlines for the linky party at SewBittersweetDesigns. Sigh.

My number one goal is to finish quilting the Swoon quilt. Just machine quilting a few of my finished tops, actually. I really want at least one quilt finished to enter my local quilt show in September.

My August to-do list in order of priority and deadline:

1--Cut Kate Spain Christmas charms for the swap. Get them mailed.

2--make mug rugs for the swap (Aug 17)

3--finish quilting the Swoon

4--August Pat Sloan BOM

5--Get my husband to hang my design wall!

6--layer and quilt the baby's star sampler

7-Layer and quilt Sunnyside ModaLove

8--Layer and quilt Elephant Parade

9--make J's bedroom curtains before it gets cold outside

Ok, I know that's a lot, but it's a running list that I need to get done. And that's not all, either. It's not counting all the new projects I want to start.

More backing

I have my cutting space back! Piles of fabric meant for quilt backing take a lot space.

Remember this one? ModaLove charm pack quilt with Kate Spain's Sunnyside. 

Is it just me, or did the star grow more into a bear paw, when I added the rest of the charms? (The pattern calls for 30 charms to be used, and Moda charm packs have 42 pieces, so I wanted to use the leftover 12 charms.)

The back is made with Kate's Daydream Cadence print, plus two strips of the lilac background solid, and a large strip of Sunnyside Celestial that's leftover from the top's border.

I just love that the colors from Kate's different collections play so well with each other.

#ModaLove

#KateSpain

#ShowMetheModa

Elephant Parade top

Hi all !

I finally finished my Elephant Parade quilt top! Can I get a WOO-HOO !!!!

A huge shout-out to Kelly, who saw my plea for more blue background on Pat Sloan's Facebook page, and sent me some that she had bought!

It's the top and two side sashings of the blue background, that was all I had to finish, but I was completely out of it. And after searching and searching, it turns out Joann had discontinued the color. Kelly had a different brand, but it was named the same color name, and sent it to me. You can't even tell the difference!  Thanks so much to Kelly!

Tonight I did a lot of pressing fabric for quilt backings, measuring and marking centers.

I got pieces cut for piecing together two different backings. That's a lot of fabric!

Backing for Elephant Parade.

Backing for Sunnyside ModaLove.

I am all about getting prep work finished at once. That way, when I'm ready to start, I just pick up the pieces and put them together. In this case, it's quilt top + backing = layer and baste a quilt together. (All right, so I admit that I still need to cut batting too.)

Update:

I finished the back of Elephant Parade too! I found cute elephant flannel at Joann and Walmart.

Cute cute cute !

Linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts!

Friday Finish

Hey look what I finished last night!

The backing for my baby's star sampler. Whee!

I love the snowflake swirls from Henry Glass that is the main fabric for the backing. What do you think of my crumb strip, " made fabric" ?

I sure have more yellow crumbs, but I had enough sections finished to finish the backing.

And I'm skipping with joy!

My last fabric print came in the mail, for the Kate a Spain Christmas Swap. It's the Solstice line "Constellation in Berry" red. It's so pretty, I almost don't want to cut it.

I love discovering new shops. Cupcake Fabric and Quilts is a great shop. They have a lot of selection and they answered my Facebook questions right away. Two days to ship from Texas to Utah. It was great!