Second Verse Same as the First

You can pretty much read yesterday's entry for today. I got the 2nd side done of my quilt-along quilt. At this rate I'm not sure I'll be ready for the next set of directions. Too many things going on right now. I guess I better get use to it, school starts in about 2 weeks and I won't have as much time (or energy).

Progress again

Worked on my quilt-along quilt today. Got just one side done. I went to the Dr. this morning, helped with unpacking boxes for the classroom at work, and then ran errands. Not much time for sewing, but I did get some done, so progress again!

Half Square Triangles are DONE!

I used this ruler for squaring up the half square triangle blocks. I bought the ruler in Kansas City this Spring at the Machine Quilters Show. The ruler is made by DbarJ Quilts etc. out of Rockville, MO and the website is dbarjquilts.com. This ruler can be used for 2.5, 3.5, 4.5, 6.5, and 8.5 inch squares. I really liked it.

I finished my half square triangles, all 214 of them. YEAH!!! This is some of the scraps that will go into my pet bed bag. Glad those are done and ready to be made into a quilt or a border or who knows???

Hand Quilting

I'm hand quilting a small wall hanging that I started last Fall at a quilt retreat for my hand work while resting my foot. The humidity has been so high, that yesterday when I went to the garden early in the morning I could see lots of spider webs. This is a close up of one. No wonder women used items in nature for inspiration for quilting designs.

I got 50 more half square triangles squared up today. I have about 60 left, should get them done tomorrow. Then it's onto the quilt-along!

Half-Square Triangles

I spent a couple of 15 minute sessions working on my half-square triangles. Making progress, just not as fast as I want.

Hand Sewing

This is a Halloween wall pocket that I finished today. It is felted wool and I love the old time Halloween look. The pattern is called "Black Cat" and it was designed by Jan Speed at "A Piece of Work." I also worked on squaring up the half-square triangles that I made earlier. I had to set the timer for 15 minutes to make me do this. It's one task I don't really enjoy. I'm going to have to change my attitude about it if I want quilts that turn out nice. :-)

Week 7 of the Quilt-along

I can't believe that this is week 7 of the quilt-along. It doesn't seem possible. With every round that I get done, I love it more. I'm glad the sun came out before the sun set so I could get a picture of today's 15 minutes.

My Prize

Look what I got in the mail today! My prize from Shelly at Prairie Moon Quilts. Thanks Shelly! It's a pattern on how to make 2 patriotic buntings at one time. I always thought buntings would look nice on my front porch.

Worked some more on my quilt-along. Hope to have it done tomorrow and will show a picture then.

Hand sewing

I decided since I did finish a UFO/WIP I could start a new project. I wanted something easy and fast. So this is what I'm working on. (In addition to my quilt-along quilt.) I needed a hand sewing project for those times that I needed to put my foot up. I was amazed at how many more hand sewing projects I have in my project boxes. (Yes, that is plural.) Lots of sewing needs to be done!

Quilt Shops

OK, I was a bad girl today. I had vowed to not buy fabric unless it was to finish something I already had started. My 2 friends, Rachel and Leona, and I went to 3 quilt shops today. I was very good at the first shop, I found 4 yards of fabric for $8. It was a cream with a little black squiggle in it. I have a ton of Halloween fabric and I thought it would go nicely with that. You know, maybe sashing or for making patchwork blocks.

Next shop was PSQ's and I HAD to buy a fat quarter packet of Julie's fabric line. My reasoning, I have already messed up and cut the wrong size block with the fabric I have for the block of the month. This way I will be sure to have enought fabric to finish up, especially if I make any more mistakes. How was that for justification?

The last quilt shop I found fun turquoise, black and white fabric scraps for 60 cents each. They are smaller than fat eighths, so will be fun to try and come up with some little quilt or tablerunner.

Hope you had a good day. I'm going to go work on my quilt-along project this evening.

July's UFO/WIP

This is my July UFO/WIP. I used freezer paper and cut out all of the pieces in March of 2009 when my husband and I were taking care of my MIL on weekends. It wasn't long afterward that she had to go to a nursing home and all of the pieces got put into a bag and there they sat. I had bunion surgery on June 28th of this year so whenever my foot swells or hurts, I have to sit and raise my foot. During that time I have worked at this little candle mat by "Bareroots". Now I have something new for Thanksgiving!

Disappearing 9-Patch

As promised, I'll show you how to do the Disappearing 9-Patch. It starts out as just a regular 9-patch.

Cut the block in half vertically and horizontally.

Then, take the upper right-hand square and turn it so that the inside corner is the outside edge of the block. Turn the lower left-hand square so that it does the same thing. Leave the other squares as they are.


Sew the 4 squares together again and it looks like you pieced the block using lots of little pieces. I love the way this turns out. So simple, but looks like it's harder.

Quilts from the Bluffs

Today was quilt day. So instead of working in my sewing room this is what I did. A group of us meet to make quilts for Project Linus and for other local charities. Sondra and Jeanine.

Ida is busy putting borders on a quilt.

Leona is working on a border also.

Laura made a quilt for JDRF using t-hirts from previous years. Love the way she pieced the wild goose block in the middle of the t-shirt to make the block fit the size she needed.

DIgging in the Closet

I spent some time cutting scrap again today with the trimmings going into my bag. Decided to do a little digging in the closet in the sewing room and I found this. I started this last Fall at a Retreat that is put on by "Quilts From the Bluffs." I had 19 blocks of the 30 blocks I need, done. So made 4 more blocks this afternoon. This is the disappearing 9-patch block. Will show you how it works tomorrow when I finish up the last of the blocks. You cut and rearrange the block to get a very different look. It looks like you did a bunch of cutting and sewing of small pieces. The pattern is from my favorite shop, PSQ. I have also found the pattern online under the name of disappearing 9-patch. There was also a tutorial.

Cutting and Collecting

My bag that I use for collecting scraps, thread and leftover batting pieces. Part of my reduce, reuse and recycle of sewing.

I have this bag hanging on the door of the sewing cabinet. Don't you just love the wonderful blue plaid? I made curtains for my kitchen in the early 80's with this fabric and I bought a bunch of it.( read very cheap fabric.) It is a really nice cotton fabric. My table buddy, at a quilt retreat two years ago, works in an animal shelter and she does this. When the bag gets full, you sew the top shut.

And, after being sewn, it makes a wonderful pet pillow to be used by a dog or a cat at the shelter. Hopefully it will provide a little comfort.
I spent my 15 minutes cutting up scraps and all of the trimmings went into the bag.

Not Much Done

This is the hard part, the only thing I did today was work on the half square triangles. I did get the rest of them cut apart and pressed. But, no picture. Maybe tomorrow?

Quilt-along

This is what I did today! I decided to take part in a quilt-along at crazymomquilts.blogspot.com It is week 6 and I added the outside border of white and the checkerboard just to the inside of that. I love how this quilt is turning out. (If the link doesn't work, then you can get there by clicking on the link under My Blog List.) I am using charm packs I had by Moda called "Berry Delicious". I'm thinking it will look great on the daybed in my sewing room. It just looks so summery.

I'm A Winner!

I'm soooo excited! I got an e-mail from Shelly at Prairie Moon Quilts that I won a copy of her pattern. Check out her blog, it's in my list! WOW!!!

Ta Da

This is yesterday's 15 minutes, plus more. I cut the half square triangles apart and pressed them open, I still have more to do. So far I have 100 done and then I'll need to square them up so they equal 4.5 inches square. I started with 5 inch squares.

Thought I would show you my tablerunner in action. I have a little sewing table at the top of the stairs and I change the little vignette with the seasons and use different tablerunners with it.

I'm doing a quilt-along with Crazy Mom Quilts and I am so excited for Mondays as Amanda Jean puts the new directions on her blog. I worked on that for a while yesterday. Was working on the first row to be added and sewed it down and realized I was off. So rip it, rip it, rip it. (Froggy in action.) I had to rip the sewing out, I hate when I have to do that. So I decided it was time to quit and wait until tomorrow. You can see the quilt on her blog for now, link is on my blog list. I'll show you a picture of my quilt when I get this round done. Happy quilting

Let's get current

This was my March UFO/WIP. The pattern is "Positively Pansies" by Patchworks and designed by Pam Kuehle of PSQ.

April UFO/WIP was a rag quilt I had made in the summer of 2009. It was even clipped and all it needed was to be washed. But I hate to go to the laundermat. So it aged over winter until April. The back is all jeans that I have been saving for years. Summer of 2008 was the summer of cutting jeans and every time I thought I was done, I'd find another box. I even found more last summer in the Big Reorg. Still need to cut those up.

May's UFO/WIP was a 1930's repro wallhanging. Pattern is called "Bloom" by Liberty Star and designed by Renee Plains.

June's project was a tablerunner. Pattern is "Rail Romp" by Pieced Tree patterns. It was a kit and the binding was cut straight of grain. It would have been easier to add the binding it it was bias binding. Some of the corners didn't come out as well as I would like, but it works and it isn't going to the Fair!

And this is yesterday's 15 minutes. Got of stack of blocks matched and pinned. Will sew today.
The little wallhanging in the back is one that my sister, Deb made me for my birthday in 1995. Someday I'll need to tell the story of my evil sister and how she got me addicted to quilting. ( Althought there may have been a genetic predisposition.)

Another Day

Not sure if these count as starting a new project, but I have been cutting out 5 inch squares since the beginning of the year and the drawer I keep them in is getting full. So decided to sew some of them together to make more room for more squares. I want to make a "Nickel Quilt" from one of the books I have, "Nickel Quilts" or "More Nickel Quilts". Both books are by Pat Speth and Charlene Thode. Once I get more done, will decide which one I want to do. Although I am leaning towards doing a twin size version of "Four-Patch Plaid" only using what fabrics I have and not worrying about plaid.

My 15 minutes was used to finish my block. Good thing I got it done, as I got directions for the next 2 blocks in the mail yesterday.

I also was thinking more about the reorg last summer and in addition to getting the basement set up, my friend Karen, from PSQs came over and helped me set things up in my sewing room. She is soooo organized, in a way I'll never be. And I love how she helped me get things going. I still have homework from that day, but I'm making progress!

15 Minutes

This was yesterday's 15 minutes (and more). It is a BOM (block of the month) that I am doing through Prairie Star Quilts. http://www.prairiestarquilts.com/ The fabric was designed by the owner of the shop, Julie Larsen and the fabric is called "Prairie Homefront". Repro fabric which I love. I should be getting the next installment for this within the next few days, so I thought I better stay current with what I had.

The Next Step

This was my February UFO/WIP. It was a round robin quilt started in the mid 90's. I had it layered and pinned, ready to quilt and we moved in 1997. It has sat in a box waiting for this moment. (I know, it isn't good to leave quilts pinned for so long, but it did wash up with no residue from the pins.) I think it was going to be a wallhanging, but now it is going to be a doll quilt. It is lavender, mauve and purple, with a floral print. The picture didn't turn out as well as I would like it, but I'm learning about taking pictures too.

I decided I need to set a goal for my blog, so for now, it will be to work on something in my sewing room for at least 15 minutes a day and write about it. Sometimes, such as when we are out of town, I will let myself off the hook. But, most days, there isn't any good reason why I can't spend some time in there. Plus that's where I want to be, but other things such as cleaning, cooking, etc seem to take over and don't leave much time or engery. That's why I thought 15 minutes would work.

Getting Started

I decided to start blogging about my quilting/sewing as I found on Facebook, when I make a committment in public, I stick to it better. So this is the beginning and a little background on why I decided it was time to take the plunge.

I store most of my fabric in the basement as I have soooo much. (You could almost say that I hoard fabric.) Last summer there was a water accident in the basement. I have all of the lower shelves of fabric in plastic bins and some of the upper shelves had cardboard boxes. Well, the pipe leading to the outside water spout cracked. And what was weird about it, it only leaked when the spout was in use. Didn't realize that it had happened until the day that my husband used that spout almost all afternoon. There was a crash in the basement and the upper cardboard boxes had gotten sooo heavy with wet fabric that it broke the shelf. The fabric in the boxes was mainly wool and so when they were wet, they were really heavy. I was able to felt some of the wool when I washed it. Some didn't felt so well or was just a mess. Ended up having to throw most of that fabric away. :-(

I spent most of last summer going through all of the boxes and converting them to plastic storage boxes and getting rid of old projects from the days of crafting. If it wasn't fabric it didn't get to live in my basement. So at the beginning of the year, 2010, I decided this was the year of sewing/quilting and using my fabric. I started by using Facebook to get started. I am working on a project a month, finishing up UFOs or WIPs. Plus I want to get a quilt done for our kingsize bed. So that brings us to now. I'll show you what I have done so far this year and will post on progress of new projects/UFOs/WIPs. Take a deep breath and lets go!

Pictured at the top is my January project, a wool tablerunner. I love handstitching wool. This was a kit I purchased at Prairie Star Quilts in ElkHorn, IA. It's my favorite local quilt shop.