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!

New Project

I know, how can I start a new project with all these UFOs I have?  It was easy when Jean came up with this new design called Miss Tess.  Jean does have this pattern for sale on Craftsy here.  What a fun class!

This class did make me think about how long is really takes to make a quilt.  I am doing this quilt in a twin bed size and I spent my four hours at class cutting out this quilt.  I got all 45 blocks cut but I still had half blocks and the centers to cut, which I finished on the following day.  And I don't feel the pattern is hard to cut or to sew.  I do need a design wall, so will be using my guest bedroom floor for that.  I'm hoping that this summer I can make a few changes to my quilt room so I can get a design wall added.  But no more work has been done on this quilt since then.

I went back to a UFO, Everything But The Kitchen Sink.  The pattern is a free pattern offered by RJR Fabrics and it's located here.  I removed the solid black border I had added and used this fabric instead.

A fun little poison green floral.