Starburst is quilted!

My wonderful MIL took the kids for the day today so I finally got a chance to sew. Of course - it was a very early leave morning as we followed Daddy to work and drove him from the car place to the store so they could work on the car today. At 123,000 miles it needed some work before he travels a bit over the next few weeks. Then it was another 50 minutes to Grandma's house to drop the kiddo's off and then another 40 minutes home. Lots of driving but very worth it. When I got home I chopped up some veggies to get them out of the fridge and pulled one of the ham hunks from Easter out of the freezer. Some pasta got boiled up and I made a cold pasta salad with ham, broccoli , tomato, cucumber, onion and olives and then I also made a batch of french lentil soup with the rest of the ham that I pulled out this morning. Once that was all set in the crock pot... I pulled a quick lunch together with some leftover spaghetti squash, tomato, feta cheese, roasted peppers, onion and kalmata olives. Yummy. I have a little bit left over so lunch tomorrow is all set for me too! Then it was off to the sewing room.

I got 2.5 hours in the sewing room today. I pinned the Starburst quilt and then was able to quilt it up. This is the star struck pattern from Bonnie Hunter over at Quiltville.  I just did some meander with loops and there was a lot of cursing muttering with skipped stitches and breaks but I got it done. Note to self - make sure you have some of the good quality thread the next time you quilt. I already had made the scrappy binding so I stitched that onto the top and it is all set for some hand sewing the binding down this evening. I tried something new and cut a 10 inch square, folded it in half and stitched it to the back while I was putting the binding on. This will be the label. 

I am debating on writing the hidden words on the label... I think I'll just let her find them and see how she does. I have a Mindy, SHS (Spaulding High School), 2012, A G cleff and some music notes. I was going to add an M for McDonalds and Ben &Jerry's but with the above muttering I decided to nix those from the quilting. Those were her jobs during high school. She will be working at Ben & Jerry's again this summer at their main plant in Waterbury,VT. So, if you are in the area and go for a tour check and see if your tour guide is named Mindy. It might be her!

What I'm working on...

I got a few minutes in the sewing room Wednesday and put together a butterfly block that I'll show next Tuesday for the Midget progress.
Then.....while the munchkins were napping I decided to piece the pink 2.5 inch strips together to make the binding for the pink scrappy quilt. That is all measured, ironed and rolled so it will be ready to sew on once that one gets quilted. I did three strips how I normally do them... just match seams and sew along the line... and then had a thought. With all the scrappy pieces I'd better try the triangle method so the bulk is spread across the length rather than my 'normal' way. I hope that it will make the hand sewing less bulky on this one. Time will tell. The backing is pressed and cut but just needs to be sewn together. I hope to do that Friday so that when I pin the graduation quilt so I can pin this one too.

I also got a few minutes yesterday and was able to wash, press and sew the backing fabric for the graduation quilt. I picked a bright dot print on a black background. The top and bottom are rolled onto the boards so that I can pin the Starburst quilt once I cut the batting and get about 30 minutes of free time. I hope to get this one pinned and quilted this weekend.

I also cut some extra batting and just need to piece it together so that I can prep the two little squares for hand quilting. These are February and March from the Quilt Square Quilt along.

What are you working on?

Progress and a package...

I made some progress and a decision on the Starburst quilt for the graduation girl. I have the diamond borders on.... and you'll see from the picture that yes, I didn't have enough of the diamonds and did not want to make more of them. So.... there are 4 black squares in the corners. I am just going to add one more outer border and call it ready for quilting. I am going to do the sides of the quilt about 2.5 or 3 inches and then the top and bottom at 5.5 inches. The binding will be about 10 or 11 inch lengths of each of the bright colors going around the quilt. That's the final decision! Here is the quilt so far without the outermost borders on.

I also got a package in the mail...from Connecting Threads.



Yippee. I got a lot for my $56 dollars. 3 different colors with 3 yards each - blue, chocolate and a pebble. These will be used in the Sow along quilt that Randy is hosting. I'm a little late joining but will plan to start that one next week after I wash the fabric up. I also got some single yard cuts - a chocolate floral that goes well with the sow along quilt, a blue cornflower leaf pattern that coordinates with the above and a brown pioneer marble... that could also be used in the quilt. I'd like to keep it solids and see how it turns out with just the three colors above.... we'll see once I start looking at the patterns. I also got two threads..... and need to decide which one I'll use to quilt up the green Jacobs Ladder quilt. I think either would work well.

All in all a very productive day last Friday.

Starburst progress...

I was able to get a few more of the diamonds sewn this afternoon and also conned... I mean convinced Aidan that if Mommy got to sew the blocks into rows today, I could start putting his together that much sooner!

So - here are the rows and some of the diamonds around the edge. I am thinking a small black border on each side of these guys so they will frame the quilt. Then..... I have something in mind but want to see how it looks once those borders are put on. I don't think it will be long enough so it will need another outer border... just not sure on a single print or a pieced border right now.


I also was waiting around for them to pick up the play room so I was able to cut out my next midget block and get that all set for hand sewing.

This afternoon while they were riding bikes in the driveway I started putting it together and have one corner completed.


I should be able to get this done for Tiny Tuesday so will stay on track for one a week this year. I also pulled the fabrics for the next two blocks.... the kids fiddled about for 2 hours before they finally picked up the play room so I hope to stay on track with these guys this year.

Pink.... a little late.

Well, after pulling out that pink top from a previous post... I know why it was in that stage. It just didn't feel 'done'. It was square and with the light border it just seemed off. So.... to make it a little longer I added some pink to the top and bottom and need to find more of the cream fabric to put a 2.5 inch row on the top and bottom to frame them up again.

Then....the outer border decision. Do I go scrappy - thinking 4.5x7 inch blocks of various pinks along the outside.... or just a plain print fabric and call it done. Thoughts? I have strips cut out at 4.5 of various pinks from the above border that would frame the quilt for the outer border. I am leaning towards scrappy.... since I don't have enough of any darker pink from my stash to create a single plain border.


I've also been working on these 'diamond' blocks for a border on the Starburst quilt.


Go on over to Soscrappy and see what everyone else is up to in the rainbow scrap challenge.

Starburst progress...

I did make 5 more of these star blocks over the last week and I think this will be the final layout. The last 5 I made had much lighter orange with the blacks so I tried to spread them around a bit. Now, I just need to trim all those extra HST triangles into 2 inch squares and make them into the diamonds for one of the borders. Once I get that part put together... then I'll figure out the final outer border. Right now... a toss up between finding a print that will tie it together and just calling it done..... or cutting up more of the fabric and making a scrappy colorful border. Hmmm. I think I'll wait until after the I have the top put together up to that point before I make that decision.
Excuse the dump truck and Thomas the Train in the photo.. they were both attempting to use the blocks as a road while I was setting them out on the living room floor. Did I mention I really miss Aidan taking an afternoon nap?

I really need to get this quilt done by the end of March so I can send it up north and start planning next year's graduation quilt this summer. That should give me time to finish the Jacobs Ladder green/cream quilt and find Aidan's star blocks and make his twin size quilt up for his bed. Lots to do... I'd better go start trimming those half square triangles.

Starbursts and Sugar Cookies

I think that is what I am going to call the Star Struck Graduation quilt. It reminds me of starburst candies....the bright colors and all. Since my G girl did not say which setting she preferred..... I'm going with this one cause I like it better!

This is what it looked like when the kids and I laid it out yesterday. I have to thank them... they let me finish sewing the double line on the last 20 of the yellow's and then cut and press a bunch of these blocks yesterday morning. Now.. I just need to find the time to sew them together into stars. I think I do need to make another row of them to make it just a wee bit longer and more of a twin size quilt. Probably adding a few more yellows and another each of the red and pink. I have a plan for the extra half square triangles and hopefully I can play with them a bit next week and see how my idea looks.


We also did some baking this week and made these awesome sugar cookies. I've tried a bunch of recipes and they were ... ok... but the shapes were never defined well and they just got big...know what I mean? I got this recipe from my old quilt guild newsletter back in April 2010. There is a link in my side bar - the Franklin County Quilters Guild. I finally tried them out before Christmas and we've made them a few times since then. We decided to make hearts this time since Valentines day is coming up. One change I made was to swap out the vanilla for almond extract. Yum! Give them a try. You'll thank me (and Sharon for putting them in the newsletter!) Here is a link to the cookies on my recipe page.