Finishes and something pink scrappy...

I managed to finish hand quilting my little cat quilt and finished putting the binding on the day after my guild meeting last week. This is the finished quilt with the close up of some hand quilting. Not the greatest, I just did freehand x's in the sashing.


I also made more of the 9 patches and have put them all together into this quilt top. I just need to find some backing fabric in the stash and get this pinned for quilting next week. This will be a charity quilt for my quilt guild.


Since yesterday was Saturday.... and Pink is the color for the month of may... I pulled out my basket of pinks and decided to play. We did tips at our guild meeting and Bonnie E brought some from the Fons and Porter magazine and one was making string blocks using muslin as the foundation. Well, I checked out Bonnie Hunters site and saw these String X blocks and decided to play around with that. I almost decided to go completely scrappy... which I think I would have liked better... but I'll stick with the pink X... or maybe O's and make a quilt top with these.

I've made 8 so far and it has not made a dent in my little basket of pink scraps so I should have plenty to make a little lap quilt. They are easy to make and fun to do. What have you been working on this week?

Progress....

In the 'mindless' sewing mode I've been in the last week or so, I've been working on making my 9 patch blocks a little bit bigger. These are some that I found in a bin last fall and have no clue how long they've been sitting there... I'm guessing late 90's as I think I made some when I was living in my townhouse. I was planning to do the sisters choice from Quiltville...but decided to just do a quicker version and do alternating colors in the corner blocks. The 9 patches were done in purple and blues with muslin. I now have 25 of the 9 patches and about 18 have been turned into these little blocks.....



Which will look something like this put together.



I think I'll make another 5 of the 9 patches so that I can set it at 5x6 for a nice size lap quilt (50x60 without borders). When this one is done.... before the June guild meeting I hope.... it will be another UFO crossed off the list on my side bar. Other than not really touching the Joann's Fabrics kit from quite a few years ago, I did pretty well with finishing up some things with this guild challenge. I've already found a bunch more UFO's in the boxes so will be all set for a new round next fall.

How are you doing on your challenges this year?

P.I.G.S. question.....

Over at Jill's blog she is doing a weekly PIGS question. I have been reading along since she started but am just starting to answer. This week's question: This week, we will be discussing Leaders and Enders and whether you multitask when quilting. Do you work on one project at a time or are you better when you are juggling 2 or more?

I have to say, when I started quilting I did one project at a time and it seemed to take forever. Working and life seemed to take over when I got to a point that I just wasn't into doing right then. Since then, I have tons of UFO's and other things I'd like to start. I find that different days I'm in the mood to do different things.... so I tend to have different things available to work on. My Leaders and Enders project was going to be a 'Twinkle Twinkle' quilt for the kids... well, once that started it took over and so that was what I worked on. I also have my UFO list from the guild and have been plugging away at that as the mood strikes. It seems I was in a quilting mood last week as I got 2 quilts machine quilted and binding put on in the evenings=). I also am doing the Midget blocks... but the paper pieced one is holding me up a bit right now. I'm more in the mood for easy - non thinking sewing so the 6 patches and 9 patches are getting worked on now. I did set up a basket close to my sewing machine last month will extra HST and squares and triangles. I have been pulling from there as L&E's when finishing off some things - no real 'plan' for those but they will end up somewhere in a scrappy quilt in the future.

Go check out Jill's blog and see what other people have answered to her P.I.G.S. question this week.

Another UFO - finished!

I got the graduation quilt quilted on Friday and Saturday and the binding put on. I have 2 sides to finish and that should be completed tonight or tomorrow night. I think all the quilts that 'need' to be completed are done. I just did a meander loop on this with a few specialty things - there is a 'Kristin', SHS, 2011, a music note and a basketball that kinda looks more like a pumpkin.



Wow - Over a month in advance too! I also sent the color request to the next graduate in the family next summer.... she chose brights - orange, red, yellow, pinks. I had picked up some 'brights' and about 4 yards of black fabric sometime last year. It is all colors but maybe I can throw a few more orange and red and yellow's in there. After seeing Jill's 'Star Struck' quilt I decided that would be a great one to do for this next graduation quilt. Thanks to Bonnie Hunter at quiltville.com for posting such wonderful patterns for free!

I also pulled out the 9 patch blocks I had made years ago in purple and blues with muslin. I made 5 more Saturday for a total of 25. I think I might make 5 more and use Bonnie Hunters 'Sisters' pattern to finish them up into 10 inch blocks. I have this one down as my June UFO - so maybe I can have it completed before then. I was not very good with a consistent seam allowance back then, so I'll have to make some adjustments and get things to 'fit'.

I also grabbed the 'challenge' fabrics I got a couple of months ago at the guild meeting. I forgot a before picture - but I had 4 of the 10 inch squares and 4 of the 3 inch squares. I added some of the batik backing from Kristin's quilt to finish off one block. I'll
put these together back to back for a large mug coaster.


Yesterday... I put off that midget block again (paper piecing... maybe I'll just skip past those for a few weeks?) and decided to make more of my scrappy 6 patch blue blocks for the Twinkle Twinkle quilt. I just need about 5 more of the 6 patch blocks for spacers and then I can start the border. I did find a couple of oops stars and have a little pile of leftover ones. Guess I need to think up a second quilt for these for the other child too!


2PM - Lentil soup is on in the crock pot, kids are quiet napping upstairs, waiting for the plumber to come fix the starter switch on the boiler, laundry is washing and drying...... think I'll go get those last 5 blocks done for the twinkle stars quilt and then maybe start the midget block.

UFO Finished!

Hip Hip Hooray! (As my son would say).
Monday during nap time I was able to pin 2 quilts for quilting. I decided to 'practice' on this little quilt I started in 2005 at Yankee Pride as a mystery quilt. I just did a curvy loop on the whole top. The binding was stitched after kids went down for bed. This will be given to my friend Kelly to use as a raffle for the June 'Lacing up for Cancer' event in Morrisville, VT. Most importantly, it is a UFO marked as DONE on my list! The picture does not show the real black well and the bright reds. I may have to try an outside picture once the sun comes out and dries up all the rain we've had the last couple of days.

The next one is Kristin's Yellow Brick Road Quilt that also got pinned on Monday. I think I'll be working on this one tomorrow during nap time. The binding is all set to be put on once this one is quilted. I think I'll pull out the next Midget block and get that started while I can.

Thanks for all the well wishes for AT and his eye surgery. I'm happy to report that he was a real trooper and you would never know he had surgery at this point. The droopy lid is gone and he was back to his normal self playing within 3 hours after his surgery and being the rough and tumble boy that he is the next day.

Happy quilting!
Deb

Guild meeting Wednesday.

We had our monthly meeting on Wednesday night and had a wonderful speaker - Richard Cleveland, the founder of The Vermont Quilt Festival a.k.a. VQF. People were asked to bring in their quilts made before 1960 and he would tell us about the quilts. It was a really interesting night and I learned a lot about older quilts, dyes and how to care for them properly. Guess I need to take the quilts out of the plastic storage bags that my husbands great grandmother made!

This months block from quilterschache was the Pinwheel block - to be made in chocolate and pinks. Here is the one I made for the exchange.

As I won the blocks in November, I can't win again this year but have been making the block every month so the winner will have a good amount to make something with. This month there were 21 blocks made (guess we liked the pattern or colors!) and they drew 2 winners.

I stopped up to Joann's Fabrics this morning with the kids and picked up my little Ott light and some navy blue hand quilting thread so I can start hand quilting the little cat quilt. This is pretty much a practice piece for me and I think I'm just going to do a general cross hatch on it. When done... this will be another UFO crossed off the list. Speaking of which.... I need to get to those 2 backings so I can get at least one quilt pinned for quilting this evening after the kiddo's head to bed at 8. Who knows, with rain in the forecast for Saturday, maybe I can get it quilted during nap time tomorrow....... time will tell.

Happy quilting.

Year of the Pigs Question....

Jill posted this question on her blog - 'What is your least favorite part of quilting?' or essentially what makes you put aside the quilt and work on something else?

Good question Jill! For me.... I dislike adding the borders since they are usually long. Yes, they are easy to do but something about them being long and my little sewing space make it seem like an issue. The other part - pinning or basting for quilting. Lots of quilts get stopped at this point. Making the backing is part of that... those long pieces of fabric again. I do use the Sharon Shamber method and roll the front and back onto the wooden boards and that does make it lots easier to do than the putting it on the floor and smoothing it out and pinning. I'm so glad that I took her workshop in the fall of 2009 and learned that method and how to properly baste a quilt. It was nice to have a day to sew completely away from the kiddos - who where 20 months and 6 months old at that time. So far, those are my least favorite parts of quilting.On the flip side- I love making blocks and I do have to say I love hand sewing the bindings down... wish I lived closer and I'd help you with those, Jill!

On that note, the kids seem to be entertaining themselves (no one is crying or screaming!) so I think I'll go pull out the tops and backing for the 2 quilts that need quilting (Kristin's YBR and a red/black stars quilt that will be donated to Lacing up for Cancer walk in June for my friend Kelly) and measure the top so I can make the backings while the kiddo's are sleeping. I'll also do a quick baste or pin of that little cat quilt from the last post and I think I'll play with my hand quilting on that one after the kids go to bed at night. Nothing fancy, just practicing the stitches and getting them about the same size. Which reminds me... I saw a neat little Ott light that goes around your neck... or by your sewing machine in Keepsake Quilting and they have them or something similar at Joanns. I need to pop in and pick one of those up so I can see what I am doing when I start hand quilting! Have you seen them or used them? Let me know if you have and how you like it!

The kids are calling and want a taster for the play food they are making. Must go taste what my little chefs are making.
Happy Quilting.
Deb