WIPS February Update

I have given up the idea that I will blog regularly. Life is not going to allow that.

Since the beginning of January I have finished some of my WIPS that carried over from 2012.

King Swoon - done and on my bed.
Puzzle Boxes Twin Quilt - done and on my eldest sons ned.
Flea Market Fancy Sweet Starlet - done and on  my kitchen table
Lone Starburst - done and hanging on my living room wall.

I keep waiting for a somewhat warm winter day in Iowa to take photos of them all outside. But so far no luck :(

WIPS
Granny Squares - I have two blocks hand quilted - no additional progress in months

Mama Said Sew Triangles - I am straight line quilting this right now. I had hoped to finish it this past weekend but was under the weather so still working on it. My faithful cat is constantly sitting on the quilt as I work and is very annoyed with me when I push him off.

I finally got around to making my Summer Sampler from Freshly Pieced. I dug through my stash for some Sweetwater, DS Quilts and others. This is waiting to be quilted.

A few weeks ago I received my copy of American Patchwork and Quilting in the mail and saw this quilt.

 

I started collecting owls this fall and was so excited to find a pattern for quilt. This one used 2.5 inch stripes. I want to downsize the pattern to create a smaller version maybe for a table topper. I used more fabric scraps and stash.

 

 

As you can see from some of the photos I had to put cutting mats and rulers across the quilt. This was to prevent my cat (see above triangle quilt photo) from jumping on all the fabric strips and tossing them in the air. grrr.

2013 Finish-A-Long

I have decided to join the 2013 Finish-A-Long over at She Can Quilt http://shecanquilt.blogspot.ca/2013/01/2013-finish-long-q1-begins.html

I am not going to repost photos of all my WIPS, you can few my last post for the photos. I will just relist.
http://hummingbirdhollowquilts.blogspot.com/2013/01/2012-year-in-review.html

1. Puzzles Boxes Twin Quilt - needs to be bound
2. King Swoon - needs to be bound
3. Flea Market Fancy Sweet Starlet - needs to be bound
4. Lone Starburst - needs to be bound
5. Granny Squares - I have two blocks hand quilted
6. Mama Said Sew Triangles - I am piecing the rows together right now - no photos to share though

I know alot of my WIPS only need to be bound, but that is the part that is that hardest for me. I have carpal tunnel and after working on the computer all day not the best thing for my wrist :(

Good luck to everyone!

2012 Year In Review

A look back at my finished quilts for 2012. 10 baby sized or larger quilts, 12 mini quilts, 2 pillowcases and 4 pillows. For how busy our life was this past year it was a huge accomplishment. But...I have a long list of WIPs that I did not finish. These are at the point where the binding needs to be sewn on.

1. My eldest son's twin quilt - I am about 1/2 way done with the binding.

 

 

2. King Swoon - also about 1/2 done with the binding.

 

3. Flea Market Fancy Sweet Starlet - I struggled with this quilt, ripping it out constantly while piecing. I decided to  pebble quilt the star and straight line the triangles. I am very happy with the quilting but will be glad when it is done and gone.

4. Lone Starburst - once I figured out how to paper piece these were so much fun to put together.

5. Granny Squares - I decided to hand quilt this one. I have 2 squares completed.. a long way to go yet.

6. I did start a new quilt yesterday with my Mama said sew fabric. Photos to come.

Happy New Year!

 

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 :)