Summer Break

Today is the first day of my summer break!  I love this day.  I have so many projects I want to work on this summer, namely those UFOs that I listed out at the first of the year.  I have yet to take any to the finish line, but soon.

It's been kind of wild weather-wise around here.  We had a big storm on Sunday and then another on Tuesday which left us without electricity both times.  Plus, we didn't have any last night.  No storms, I figured they had to cut the power to finish working on a major project.

This is what we ended up with Tuesday:

Hail

At least we had little hail and not the big stuff that was north of us.  We had that a couple of years ago, so I really feel for what our neighbors to the north of us are going through.

Water

The water came rushing off the fields behind and to the sides of us.  This is our side yard.  Lots of old corn stalks left for us to pick up.

Today is overcast and I'm working on cleaning up my cutting table.  Along with that, I'm cutting the 2 inch squares I need to finish step 2 of Celtic Solstice.

Iowa Quilt

I've been busy working on my Iowa Quilt.  I bought the kit last year at Cut Up & Quilt and I want to get it put together before this years All Iowa Shop Hop starts June 1st.  I'm a little over half way done.  This is the pattern.

I'm making the Lap/Twin size and I'm loving the way it looks!

Oh No, Again!

Oh no, again I went too long without posting.  About 2 weeks ago I did finish the top for Everything But The Kitchen Sink.  But then it rained all the following week after I finished it.  But I finally was able to get a picture of it.  Ta Da!

I went out in the early morning before I left for work and took this picture as the sun was just coming up.  I did change things up a little.  Around the Ohio Star blocks the pattern calls for white framing, but I wanted more color so I used more of the reproduction fabric.  I love the way it came out.  I can hardly wait to get the quilting done so I can cross this off my UFO list!

First Finish For 2014

Finally!  I have my first finish for 2014!  I made a quilted cover for my bread machine.  In the winter the bread machine sits on the counter as we use it about once a week.  Nothing better than homemade soup with fresh bread.  I wanted something bright and cheery, so I used my charm pack of "Eat Your Fruits n' Veggies" by Pat Sloan for Moda.    (There are batiks which weren't in the charm pack.)

I just laid the five inch squares on the bread machine to get an idea of how many I would need.  I had pinned this sewing machine cover on Pinterest as I still want to make a cover for my sewing machine.  I used this tutorial as a guide.  Only I didn't turn sew it together in the same manner. I quilted it and added binding.

My charm squares all sewn together.  I added batting and backing and quilted it with a wavy X. 

 The finished cover.

Another view. I love how bright this fabric is.  Perfect for a pop of color in winter.  The machine is now going to stored away for the summer, but it will have this nice cover for protection from the dust.

Hello!

Hello!  Long time, no see.  I know, no blog post, but I have been busy.  I didn't want to bore you with the "daily grind".  I have cut out all 388 of my HST pairs for Celtic Solstice and they are sew together!

I chain pieced the triangles and cut the chain into groups of 10.  I now have the joy of pressing and trimming the dog ear off of each one.  I like to do that in groups of 10 as it's a way of tricking myself.  Ten at a time isn't hard.  Thinking of all 388, that sounds hard.

I also cut out a quilt that is on my UFO list for this year.  It's the quilt kit I bought at last years Iowa Shop Hop.  My goal was to have it made before this year's Hop as I told myself I couldn't buy a kit this year if it wasn't done.  I need to get busy as the Iowa Shop Hop starts in June.

And progress was made on "Everything But The Kitchen Sink".   Two borders have been sewn on and am getting the piecing done for the third border.  See all the little pieced squares?

So it's been productive even if I haven't finished anything yet!  I was feeling bad that I haven't had a finish for this year, but soon!

Stash

I've been rooting through my stash looking for bright yellows for my Celtic Solstice.  When I find a bright yellow, it's usually a solid.  Really has me thinking about what fabrics I need to look for the next Shop Hop I go on.  I did find this block of the month from 2002 that Hancock Fabrics did.  I never was very fond of it as it reads as too much of a solid for me.

But the yellow, green and royal blue will be perfect in Celtic Solstice!  I'm going to sew the blocks together and use them on a backing, the pieces of blocks will go in the orphan block box and the yardage into the stash for Celtic Solstice.  Nice to finally make a decision on this project.  

Long Time, No Posts

I know, long time, no posts.  Two weeks ago, I was sicker than sick with the flu or some virus.  Nasty, nasty thing that really put me out of commission for the whole weekend.  Last weekend we went to MN to visit the Grands and to celebrate Sophie's 4th birthday early.  She was so excited!

And because we were traveling, I was able to finish another hexie.

During the week I have been working on my pieced border for "Everything But The Kitchen Sink".  These blocks are 2.5 by 2.5.

I also have been cutting out Step 2 of Celtic Solstice.  I'm sewing it as a Leader and Ender.  

  I have 488 green rectangles cut out and am working on the yellow squares that will be sewn to the corner of each rectangle.  I still have the light squares to work on too before I'm ready to bag these up.  I've been marking the little squares as I go, so everything will be ready to sew.  

Hope you're making progress on your projects, too!