Finishes For 2011

First thing I finished for 2011 was a little mug rug.  See the date on the picture, didn't happen until February as I was busy trying to complete the quilt in the next picture.

The biggest finish I had was my king size quilt.  I made this longer and wider than I could quilt on my longarm quilting machine. 

Next were 4 little table toppers.  One I gave to my sister in law and one I kept for myself.  The other two went to friends.

I then make a rag quilt for our preschool classroom.  We use this outside to sit on so we can read books.

The jigsaw quilt went to my grandson's preschool teacher that retired.  

This little quilt was made from 1970's flannel.  It was scraps I had leftover after making pj's for myself.

Three table runners made for our quilt retreat.  I made up the simple pattern.  Fun to do!

Twenty coasters I made for a Breast Cancer Survior's dinner.

And last, but not least, the Advent Calendar I made for my grandson and granddaugher.

Not bad, but not near as many finishes as I did in 2010.  I finished many tops but didn't get them to the quilt stage.  So stay tune for tomorrow's post......

Slow

I know I have been doing other things in addition to sewing, but these quarter square triangles are going SLOW.   I know I've been slow at sewing them as I want to be sure that I don't have to redo any of them.  (I have had to redo about 3.)  At first I was pinning, then I gave up with that and have been winging it.

I also have been trimming off the dog ears as I go as I don't want to do them ALL at the end.  I have 60 totally ready to go. They are at the top of this picture. The pile next to the rotary cut still needs to be done.
 

 All of these are waiting to be matched up and sewn.  Slow and steady wins the race!

Soon

Soon all of my little halves of quarter square triangles will be little squares!  And this is what they will become.

I still have lots of halves to put together and I thought of making blocks as I get 4 done.  Then I realized I wanted to be sure there was lots of variety among the blocks.  So I'm sewing them together like step 1 and will wait until I get to step 6 to finish them up.

I'm really thinking it would be so cool to make a scrappy Ohio Star quilt.  This method is so easy.

300

I have 300 of my quarter square triangles sewn together and pressed.
The last 148 are sitting by my sewing machine and on my cutting table.

I really am a messy sewer.  I have fabric all over the sewing room as I'm trying to do many things at once.  I had the great idea to cut red strings as I was cutting my black and light prints.  Yesterday I was going through 5 inch squares that I already have cut, my bins of black, whites/lights, and reds, and my scrap bag of fabric to be cut.  I'm sure that's why it takes me so long to finish a quilt.  I jump all over, rather ADHD like.  Part of it, I know, is because I'm so excited and the other part is because I really want to catch up.  Does this ever happen to you?  Does your sewing room look like it's been ransacked by someone?  Heavens know you wouldn't do that to yourself on purpose!!!! 

Merry Christmas!

Random

My husband and I watched a movie last night so I worked on this flower and finished it!  It's so nice to have some hand work as I have a hard time just watching sometimes.  It really depends on the movie.

I also have 100 half units done for Part 1 of the Orca Bay Mystery Quilt.  Only 348 to go!  LOL

More

I have 25 more little halves cut out and sewn.  A total of 75.  Yeah!  I did get even more blacks and lights out and cut last night.  I want to have as much variety as possible in this scrap quilt.  Plus it's nice to get some of that old fabric out of the bins, cut up for use and ready to go.

I've been cutting extra 1.5 inch strips as I want to make a log cabin quilt next year.  It's one of those quilts that on my list of patterns I'd like to make.  I'll make them like I did my string blocks, one here and one there, whenever I'm at a lost as to what to do for 15 minutes.  And I'm going to make another string quilt too.  Those are so much fun to do.

Fast

I am surprised, in a good way, how fast the little pieces go together!  I have 50 of the little half units done!  Last night I took a minute and put a quarter square triangle together.  It went together as slick as can be.

The block measures 2.5 inches and will finish to a 2 inch block in the quilt.  I can hardly wait to see how this comes out.  I pressed some more fabrics last night to get some more variety to my blacks and lights.

Hope This Isn't A Sign

I went out today and bought the two rulers I needed to make the Orca Bay! Mystery quilt.  The Easy Angle ruler and the Companion Angle ruler to make my quarter square triangles.  I like that you use these rulers with the strips instead of cutting squares.  (Cutting squares is the method I have always used before. Or to quote Bonnie: "draw-and-sew-and-cut-and-press-and-draw-and-sew-and-cut-and-press.)  But considering how many I need to make, I decided to try it her way.  I love trying new techniques so why not?

The first 10 that I cut and sewed together, I sewed on the wrong edge.  I hope this isn't a sign!  The next 10 went just fine.  I'm chalking it up to the learning curve.  I didn't rip the first 10 apart.  I'm leaving them all together and they went into my "mistakes I have made" "one of a kind blocks" tub.  I've used those blocks to fuse onto gift bags and they make a cute decoration.

Now I only have 438 to go..... This step is going to take me a while.

Finishes

 This first pillow is a kit and pattern from Prairie Star Quilts,   I love working with wool felt.

So I decided to make this one for my Secret Santa at work.  Hope she likes it.

I also have 60 blue string blocks done for the Bonnie Hunts mystery quilt: Orca Bay.  Making lots of progress this week.  I love when that happens!

Not Much

Not much to tell.  I have 5 more of my little blue string blocks done.

Went Christmas shopping yesterday, didn't have much luck.  Not sure what I'm looking for, which makes it hard to find. :-)

Heading back to the string blocks.......

Busy Weekend

I'm sure all of your weekends are busy too, with Christmas just around the corner.  I have a few things to share with you.  First of all, I have 30 of my little blue string blocks done!  I need to make 72 of these, so I'm getting there.

Saturday was Quilt Day and I have to share with you the friendship quilt that Jeanine coordinated the group to make for Rachel.  Rachel is our friend who was out of her home all summer and fall due to flooding in this area.

Jeanine did a fabulous job of placing all the friendship blocks together and then quilting it.  Rachel wasn't able to go to our Quilt Retreat this past Fall, so it ended up a perfect time to have the group make blocks for her.

I've had startitis really bad this weekend.  I've started another Advent Calendar for the teacher I work with and  started a wool wall hanging for myself.  Plus I found my fabric I bought for a new tree skirt. (I haven't cut that one out, but I plan on it.)  Love this time of year!


P.S.  Jeanine has more pictures here.

Catch Up

You may or may not have heard, Bonnie Hunt at Quiltville started her 2011 Mystery Quilt, Orca Bay, on November 18.  This mystery quilt is based on her trip to Cordova, AK.  My husband and I also were in Alaska this summer so I really wanted to do this quilt.

Since I was in the middle of Thanksgiving preparations, I didn't start it with everyone else on the 18th..   This past weekend, I was able to start it. But I didn't start with step one, I started with step two, the 3.5 inch string blocks.

  Once these are done, I'll go back to step one and then follow the steps in order.  I think one of the reasons I was so ready to start this quilt was all the snow we received on Saturday, 6 inches to be exact.  Thought I would share this picture of the deer at the end of the lane.  It was a really beautiful snow, especially since I didn't have to get out into it.

Deer at Dusk

Finished!

I finished the Advent Calendar this morning.  It feels so good to have it done, but now I need to get to the Post Office on Monday and mail it out.  I am very happy with the numbers considering how much I stressed over them.

Pinned

I have all the squares pinned onto the backing.  Lots of measuring to be sure everything was lining up like I wanted.  Now for the sewing.  I'm worried about shifting....

Tonight I'll be off to pick up a dowel and some ribbon to use for hanging the calendar.

Hi!

Hi!  I'm getting into the swing of the sewing again.  I finished stitching the numbers for the Advent Calendar.  See?

And I pinned all the red squares to the off white wool and started sewing them down.  I'm doing that on the machine.  I love hand sewing this wool, but it's a bit faster doing it on the sewing machine.

It's coming along nicely.  I just am kind of sad that it's not going to be done as soon as I had hoped.  But the grandchildren will have it this year, just a few days late.  Do things like that ever happen to you?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Things are getting busy around here with Thanksgiving just two days away!  I won't be blogging as I have cooking, etc. to get done.  Plus the window repair people are to be here on Wednesday to finish the skylights.  When I'm back, I hope to have all of my numbers done.  Keep your fingers crossed!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

More Numbers

I finished some more numbers on the Advent Calendar.

 And an update on Sophie, she was acting more like herself yesterday and the swelling in her eye is going down.  But her mother and her brother now have pinkeye and the illness that goes with it.  Fever, etc.  Hope that they are all feeling better soon!

Pinkeye Can Be Very Serious

What a panic the last few days have been.  No sewing has been accomplished during this time.

I received a text from my DIL that my granddaughter was being admitted to the hospital for pinkeye.  They had been to the doctor on Monday and received an ointment to put in her eye.  By Friday it was worse and they headed back to the doctors.  They then admitted her and were talking of doing a CT of her eye.  It was decided to give her some antibiotics first and have the eye doctor check it again on Saturday. No CT.  They are back home now; the fever is gone and she is feeling better.  But. they are are quarantined for the next 2 weeks.  Which means they won't be coming for Thanksgiving and I will need to mail the Advent Calendar to them.   I'm so bummed.  But I hope she is over this soon.  Keep your fingers crossed for her.

Watching Spongebob with Mom at the hospital.

More Numbers

I have some more numbers done!

It's Coming Along Nicely.

My Advent Calendar is coming along nicely.  These are the numbers I finished Tuesday night at Quilt Guild.

Last night, Wednesday I finished 8 and 9.  Didn't have time to do much more than my 15 minutes of sewing last night.

And check out all these wonderful quilts!  Aren't they an amazing group of women?

Great Day!

Tuesday was a GREAT day!

First Sandy of Stitches and etc. sent me an email letting me know that I won My Memories software to use for making digital scrapbook pages.  I'm so excited!  I can hardly wait to play with the it and my pictures.  Sandy had made the most beautiful pages of her garden flowers.  Just think of the fun!  Thanks Sandy!

Second:  We got half of our skylights put in.  I'm not sure if the person putting them in had every worked with skylights before, but he put in only the dome.  He forgot to put the flat piece in.  But at least we don't have tarps blowing in the wind.  When he was installing the window, my husband asked him about that and he said it didn't come like that.  So my husband was reviewing the bill last night and the bill does show that the flat piece is part of the package and so now we have to call him and have him come back.


Third, I finally figured out my numbers.  I did freehand them and I am stitching the number with Perle cotton. I took a picture, but my camera battery died.  I'm heading to the grocery store tonight, so will pick up the new battery than.   I stitched the numbers on 1 through 7 and half of 8 last night while I was at Quilt Guild.

Fourth, Quilt Guild was amazing.  There are so many talented women in that group.  I know I have said that every time I go, but it's true.  I get blown away by the talent every time.  As I have in the past, I will post the link to the Guild blog when the pictures are up.

Have a great day!

Frustration

I'm rather frustrated.  I'm all ready to go on the Advent Calendar and I can't get my numbers to look nice.  I love the look of uniform size and shape of the printed numbers, but I don't have the Clover transfer pencil and I'm not coming up with a good way to do this.

I tried writing my own numbers, free form, and was not happy with that.  I tried using "Saral" transfer paper and it wouldn't work as the wool is too soft.  I'm whining here as I don't have the time to mess with trying to find a solution.   But, I'm not going to get it done if I don't come up with something soon.   And I really don't want this project to have that dorky, homemade look....

Advent Calendar

My DIL asked me to make an Advent Calendar for my grandson and granddaughter, and of course I said "YES!".  The pattern is based loosely on this one at The Purl Bee .  I played with squares on my cutting mat to decide the size, I'm not going as narrow as shown.  And I'm placing 4 squares across.   So I got it all cut it out on Saturday night.

Then I got stumped.  I was trying to decide on how to do the numbers.  I really didn't want to embroider the numbers and making little numbers out of wool felt seemed like it may take longer than the week and half I have to get it done.  As I was getting ready for church, I remembered a technique I learned last year at Prairie Star Quilts.  You use narrow pieces of the wool felt and couch the wool down.  It makes wonderful curves.  So that's how I'm going to do the numbers.

Saturday was Quilt day and again I spent my time cutting out 8 inch squares and 2.5 inch strips of Christmas fabric.  (Jeanine gave me a HUGH bin of Christmas fabric.)  There were some larger pieces in the bin that I'm saving for backings.  I hope to have some kits together for the December meeting.

And the Butterfinger bars were a success.  I'll be making those again, only with creamy peanut butter.  I think I would like that better, although the crunchy peanut butter was OK.

Where Does The Time Go?

I can't believe I haven't written anything since Wednesday.  I'm going to blame it on Thanksgiving.

I know that sounds weird, but we're having family here and I have been busy getting things ready.  I have guests that stay the whole weekend, so I have lots of planning and prep work to do.  I love having my husband's family here as this is the one time that we seem to all get together.  It's a great day with lots of fun and food.

I'm trying out a recipe for homemade Butterfingers.  I'm ready to start dipping them in chocolate.

 I originally saw the recipe at Ask Anna.  Which is why I decided I wanted to try it.  My problem was, I had chunky peanut butter.  I made them anyway just to see how it would come out.  I also found another recipe at Buns In My Oven which I like because I'm a cup of this and a teaspoon of this baker vs 16 oz of this and a pinch of this.  I'm going to try that recipe next time.  When it comes to cooking, I like a recipe, when it comes to sewing, I like to experiment a little outside of my comfort zone.

I'm taking these to quilt day, so will let you know how they go over.  Wish I had the creamy peanut butter. (It is odd, as I usually buy creamy style vs chunky style.)  Once you get them covered in chocolate, it won't matter, at least that's my way of thinking.

Wiped Out

As I was reading Miranda's blog,  The Craft Bot , I realized what my problem was:  The time change.  I hate it.  Monday night I got nothing done after we ate dinner, I took my bath, fixed some hot chocolate (which I did finish drinking) and then zonked out at 7:30!  No sewing, no cleaning, no decluttering, nothing but sleep.  Which I guess I needed as Tuesday ended up much better.

Last night I worked on my hexagon flowers for 15 minutes.  (Actually longer, which was good.)  And did some decluttering.

Progress

I have one row all sewn together.  I love the orange added to this, it's the pop it needs. (In my opinion.)

I'm still cleaning and decluttering.  I wanted to share another blog that has given me so many great ideas.  It's called Ask Anna and she has so many solutions to things that at times I think to myself, "Now why didn't I think of that?"  Hope you enjoy the site.

Random Thoughts

I have a lot of random thoughts today.  No pictures though, sorry.

I love and hate Fall.

I love the wonderful weather we have had.
I love the color and the leaves.
I love the way the farm fields look before, during and after harvest.
I love going to football games.
I love getting the gardens ready for winter.
I love harvesting vegetables out of our garden.
I love spending time with friends, sewing on quilt day.
I love starting to cook comfort foods, ie, soups, stews, and casseroles.



I hate how fast the time goes, I have no clue what happened to September and October.
I hate that Fall is almost over.....

First Snow Fall

The first snow fall of the year.  Not much, but enough to make you know that winter is on it's way.

We still have tarps on the skylights, so I was really worried about how they would hold up under the weight of this damp snow.  They did OK.  Next Tuesday we should have the new ones in.  It's taken a lot longer to get  them then I wanted.  Originally we were told they would be in by the middle of October.  Hope they really do get put in next week.

So tonight I'm going to finish the pinning and then start the sewing!

Pinning Away

Well, I didn't get all the blocks pinned, but I did make some progress!  I am going to start sewing tonight just because I'm so excited to see the blocks in at least one row.   I've been trying to think of a name for this quilt and so far... nothing.  I'm sure it will come to me as I sew.

And I have the link for the October Piecemaker's Quilt Guild meeting.  You'll love the pictures!

Blocks

I finished the blocks on Sunday.  Love how this quilt is coming along.  I started pinning the sashing on last night.  Maybe I'll get all the pinning done tonight so Wednesday I can sew, sew, sew!

Organization

As you know I've been cleaning my sewing space and I've been very inspired by a blog: The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking .   She has wonderful ideas and I want to do that to my home.  The past month has been 31 days of Organizing with lots of ideas.  I cleaned my bathroom yesterday and am doing over some  drawers.

My sister, Deb at Cluttered Quilter talks about a new site she has found which is also very inspiring to me.  (Can you guess that my sister and I have the same problem? Organization and lots of clutter?) Check it out at her blog.  I love the ideas.

By the way, I made some more string blocks.

 And worked on the quilt blocks I started at the Retreat.

Cleaning

Did 15 minutes more of cleaning.  I worked mainly on my cutting table as that's where I have the most stuff.  I think it's going to take a few more 15 minutes to get this done.  My reward for cleaning was to sit and make a string block.

 This block has some odd colors as I truly went with whatever I pulled out.  Interesting.  But I know it will look great when I sew it into a quilt.

Sewing Room Mess

My sewing room is such a mess.  I have stuff stacked on the cutting table, stuff stacked on the day bed, and piled on the floor.  I have bins I have gotten out and not put back.  What a mess.  So my 15 minutes tonight was spent cleaning a little.  (And 15 minutes was all I spent, I was having major motivation problems.)

MOUSE!

I need to give you a little background.  We live in the country.  We moved here almost 14 years ago and at the time we moved we had 5 cats and 3 dogs of various ages.  We now have just one dog.  

We went out of town this past weekend and I think we have a little furry animal that has moved in.  Not sure how he got in (or when) but I found hints of his existence tonight when I opened the towel drawer in the mudroom and there was LOTS of dog kibble and mouse droppings in the drawer.  (The towels are now in the washer and the kibble has been vacuumed up.)  I'm thinking that I may be getting another cat or two very soon.  The thing is, how can you be sure that the kitten you're getting is a mouser?  If you have any tips, let me know.

On a brighter note, I finished another hexagon.  See??

Quilt Guild

I went to Piecemaker's Quilt Guild again last night.  What a wonderful time.  There was Show and Tell and treats after the meeting.  But the program was the best part.  Two members from the guild did Trunk Show's of their own work .

AMAZING.

For years I have thought "I wish I could do that."  Now I've been trying to change my thinking and my thoughts tonight were, "I know I could make quilts like that."  I believe it.  And I felt a peace when I thought that.

Looking forward to what my quilting days bring!


PS  I'l link you up with the Guild's blog when the pictures are up.

Coasters

Here are all of the coasters I finished this weekend.  Coming up with the fabric combinations was the best part.  Going through the stash and deciding which fabric to use - heaven.

I also sewed all of my blocks that I had pinned. Ready to piece the next side and add them to the block.  Wonder how long that will take me....... ?????

Quilt Day

Yesterday was quilt day.  Julie brought her quilt back for us to see.  She has the borders on.  Her niece loved it and her other niece asked her to make one for her.  It's so beautiful. I love the little bit of turquoise in it.

  I worked at cutting more of the Christmas fabric and at home I worked on my criss cross coasters.  I need to get them all finished today.  Wish me luck!

Still Catching Up

I'm still catching up.  This is the last project I worked on at the Retreat and it's still at about the same stage even though it's been 3 weeks.  (Has it really been that long?) I showed you the fabric here.

And you may even be able to read the date on the picture, Oct 2.  That was a week after the Retreat!

On a positive note, look at how much I have left of my Christmas fabric stash!

This bin was filled to the top and it was really mashed into the bin.  I'm thinking those jelly roll racers may be the ticket to reducing the overflow of fabric in a bin!

And last but not least are 3 of the criss cross coasters I made last night.

I love making these.  They go together so fast and are so cute.  What great gifts they would make. Have a great day!

Sewing For A Cause

As you might know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.    

For the past few years I have helped my friend make little gifts for a Survivors Dinner, Women Helping Women.  Last year we made origami bags and this year we are making criss cross coasters.  They are really fast and fun to make.

I have cut out 10 coasters tonight and will get another 10 cut out tomorrow so I can sew them all this weekend.  I'll post a picture once I have some finished.

More

As you may remember, I went to the Piecemaker's Quilt Guild meeting just before the Retreat.  Here is a link to that meeting and all of Brenda's cool stuff.

I'm also trying something else here.  I haven't been able to figure out how to do a slide show that I'm happy with yet.  So in the mean time, I have added a badge to the side from my flickr account so you can see the rest of the pictures from the Retreat.

Have a wonderful evening!

Hello?????

I know, where have I been and what have I been doing?    I think I over did it at the Retreat.  It's taking me a long time to get back into the groove again.  I'll start with showing you what I did at the Retreat.

 I started this jelly roll racer Thursday night and finished it on Friday morning.  So interesting the way the fabrics play out.  Just like working with variegated yarn.

Then I worked on a Halloween quilt.  I started this Friday and finished it up on Saturday morning.  This was made with my Halloween stash.  And yes, I still have lots of that stash left!  LOL  We took a break to go to a local quilt shop, which was fun.  It's so hard to not buy more fabric.  (I have so much stash now, it's hard to justify buying more fabric.)

The last top I finished was another jelly roll racer.  I love the way the black weaves itself around in this one.   And then I started one more top on Sunday, which I'm still working on now.

Have a great evening and I'll be back tomorrow with more pictures!