3 Months Later...

I have been non-existent for the last three months but I have been very busy in my sewing studio.

A few finishes but alot of works in progress.

 

Finishes:

This is a baby quilt that I made for my cousin who just had a baby boy.

I made this for my niece to fit into a doll bed that my dad made her for Christmas. I didn't get to see the finished product before it was delivered to her on my parents fall visit to them.

Two of the Halloween quilts that I made but didn't get the binding done until Halloween was over :(

I have been wanting to make quilts for both my boys beds for a while now but it is so hard to find fabric that is not babyish. My youngest decided that he wanted a black, white and red quilt. So I went to a few quilt shops and picked a variety of fabric. Below is what I came up with.

I did a disappearing nine-patch pattern that went together so quickly. With the leftovers I made a pillow sham.

WIPs

 

My paper pieced stars are complete! These were really fun to do once I figured out how to paper piece. This top is basted and is waiting to be quilted.

I have wanted to make this Basic Grey pattern - Sweet Starlet Quilt for awhile. I had such a hard time with this pattern. I cannot even tell you how many seams I ripped out and the quilt still doesn't lay flat :( I got to this point and decided to call it quits. It is a great size to use as a table topper. It is basted and ready to be quilted. I actually tried to quilt this twice and ripped out the stitches because I didn't like the look of the quilt designs. I am in no hurry to go back and try to finish it.

 

These are the corners from the Starlet quilt that I did not use. I am trying to decide what to do with them. I hate to waste the fabric.

 

My first attempt at hand quilting! I have 3 blocks done so far.

 

And finally my king Swoon is quilted!!!! It is now sitting in a basket waiting for the binding to be sewn on. My goal was to have it done by the end of the year but that is not looking very good.

 

Close-ups of the border quilting. I did flowers with loops in blue thread.

In the middle of the stars I did pebble quilting, with meandering around it. The sashing has a wavy line with a swirl in the small squares.

As I was in the process of quilting this, my cat found a spot to sleep everyday.

 

My oldest son picked this puzzle fabric Riley Blake's Pieces of Hope for his bed quilt.

 

The pattern I choose was from Camille Roskelly's Simplify book. (Sorry I am too lazy to run to the studio to look up the pattern name :p ) My parents took the boys on a road trip this weekend so I had alot of sewing time and got almost the whole top done. I have the final border to do yet. I did have to modify the pattern so it was large enough for a twin bed.

I splurged a few weeks ago and bought Sweetwaters Mama Said Sew line. I am still trying to decide on what pattern to use. I was debating about this brick quilt featured on Moda Bakeshop  http://www.modabakeshop.com/2011/05/easy-strawberry-fields-bricks-quilt.html

That is all for now. Thanks for checking in!

 

WIP Wednesday

Wow where has the last 2.5 months gone?? Summer is over, baseball is over, soccer has started, sewing has been done, our vacation is a faint memory, the kids have been in school for 2 weeks now.

We once again went to Minnesota for our vacation. (The boys choose this over Disneyland??) We spent some time in Minneapolis - went to a Twins game, did MOA. Then ventured north to Brainerd. We have found a nice small resort on a small lake without a lot of motor boat traffic so it is nice and quiet. We did some fishing - I caught the biggest fish to my son's horror. Apparently girls are not supposed to know how to fish :)

I know not very big for Minnesota but we just catch and release

Spent a few days just sitting in a chair watching the boys play in the sand and swim. And watched a view beautiful sunsets.

Ventured up to Nisswa for their weekly turtle races. My littlest and me won the first heat of the resort races. I jumped in the air and yelled. It was so exciting!!! We ended up coming in 2nd overall.

I worked on my hexagon project. 2 years ago on the same beach is when I first started assembling the individual heaxagons. I got one flower complete in 4 days!

I stopped at a favorite quilt shop in Brainerd - Country Fabrics and Quilting. They have a wonderful assortment of fabrics that I cannot get anywhere around me.

A few fat quarters of Reunion

A few of Vintage Modern

I finally caved a bought the pattern for Basic Grey's Sweet Starlet Quilt and some yardage of Flea Market Fancy. Now to find the time to sew it.

I have had multiple projects that I have been working on the past few months. Some have been finished and some are still waiting around for me to get back to them.

Finished:

Churn Dash

A few Christmas mug rugs/mini quilts

WIPs:

This is basted but I have yet to decide on the quilting design

I have seen the Lone Starburst around blogland and fell in love with it. I have been slowly working on it using Denyse Schmidt's Meadowlark. I am using both the blue and orange colorways. My plan is layed out below - half the quilt with blue and half with orange. The four middle stars will be 1/2 blue and 1/2 orange.

 Here are a few of my favorite stars.

I just made this doll quilt today for my neice who is turning 1. I got her a baby doll to go along with it.

I also finished a baby quilt for my cousin and a matching doll quilt, plus another holiday mini quilt but have yet to take photos of them.

I think that is all for now. Hopefully I won't be away to long before the next post :)

WIP Wednesday

It has been a while since I last wrote. School has been out for 3 weeks and ball season is in full swing with tournaments almost every weekend and games that are lasting over 2 hours so alot of long days and late nights sitting in the bleachers.  My big news is that I finally broke down and bought myself a new sewing machine!!! I had been using a very inexpensive Kenmore that my husband had bought me 10 years ago. I now have a Janome Memory Craft 6300. This machine has soooo many more features than my old one and I am constantly looking in the manual for instructions. I have done a lot of straight piecing with the Janome and love it! On my Kenmore I had issues with the start of the fabric getting caught in the beginnning stitches leaving me with a big knotted mess - no more of that :) I also have almost 4 more inches in the throat area versus my Kenmore - I do all my own quilting so I am very excited about this!

I did just start to machine quilt my churn dash quilt on it Sunday night. The Janome does not fit in my sewing table as nicely as my old machine, so last night my husband helped me create a little ledge around the machine so the quilt sandwich does not droop before going under the needle. I have quilted one block each night - at this rate it will take me three weeks to get this completed!

 My king sized Swoon quilt has been my sewing project for the last few months. It measures 112" square. I am debating on what to use for backing fabric right now. I don't want to spend a fortune on material and need to investigate the 108" fabrics to see if any match.

I also just finished this flannel quilt for my friend's nephew who is 3 years old. A month ago he was diagnosed with luekemia and has been at the University hospital for testing and chemo treatments. Things have been going well and he is producing his own white blood cells so he might be able to come home today for a few days.

I resurrected this project that I started in 2010. I have 1-1/2 flowers stitched together. This will be my summer project while at ball games, watching the kids swim, etc.


WIP
1. Finish quilting churn dash
2. Decide how to quilt granny's squares quilt
3. Find fabric and quilt swoon
4. Paper piecing flowers