Happy Sunflowers

Here's the next project in the works.

 

 

My husband said they looked like sunflowers with the yellow fabric. =)

 

It will eventually end up as a table runner. There are three dresden plates, with the sashing strips in between each one. I just wasn't able to get all three in the picture.  Once it is finished I will be able to get better pics hopefully.

I'm also thinking about changing the sashing strips to something simpler. Might help the dresden plates stand out a little more. I don't know. I'll have to play around with it a bit to see what I like better. That's all part of the fun. And I am having fun with my quilting adventures. =)

 

 

 

 



First attempt at paper peicing

So I signed up for the Craftsy 2012 block of the month class.  I watched through all the videos and decided to attempt the paper piecing block first. It's on my list of things to try, and I had some time yesterday so i gave it a shot.

 

I just used some scraps I had. I'm thinking I will turn it into a mini quilt and maybe practice some free motion quilting on it. So excited it turned out. There are a few spots were the pieces weren't quite big enough, but most should be in seams. I will definitely be adding this to my ever growing "want to make" list to make a whole quilt out of these squares.

 

Linking up to:

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one deserves a party...

...well at least some chocolate. =)

It's finished!

I used the Riley Blake Life in the Jungle line and a grey solid for the background.  The finished quilt measures 46.5 x 53.  Worked out a little different than the pattern but it is a nice big baby blanket.

 

 

I tried a couple of new techniques with this one. New to me anyway. I spray basted it instead of pinning. It was faster than pinning and nice not to worry about them when quilting it. It did seem to take quite a bit of the can, but I might have been spraying it a little heavy.  I really didn't want it to fall apart when I was quilting it. I did have to re-smooth the backing. I picked it up and it was really wrinkled. All in all it worked out pretty good.

I didn't think I would have any starts and stops to worry about hiding since it is all straight line quilting from the top to the bottom.  Of course bobbin thread running out in the middle fixed that for me. I did find the great video made by Leah Day on hiding threads. I did knot mine before hiding them since I hope my quilts will be washed and used a lot.

 

I did have to fix the back. I had a coin stack all sewn up and was going to follow the directions for the backing, but my main fabric wasn't quite big enough and I would have had to turn it sideways. Which makes most of the trees point sideways from the top of the quilt. No one would have noticed but me. It would have driven me nuts knowing it was like that. Yes, I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist.

So, I cut the coin stack in half and put it on either side of the backing. Turned out pretty good.

 

I am linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts finish it up Friday. Check it out!

Still in Progress

Ever get the feeling that your just not supposed to finish a project. I'm beginning to wonder with my Jungle quilt. I just start thinking I'm so close and I have to stop and fix something. (sigh). 

Well it's still a work in progress. All that needs done it stitching on the binding. Hopefully I will be able to do that with out too many more hiccups along the way. 

I have the two totes almost done. I just need to fix the lining in the flower one and then top stitch around the top. I decided to quilt the outer and didn't think about it making it smaller so the lining ended up being just a bit big. It turned out pretty cute otherwise. I'm thinking maybe a Mother's Day gift. 

 The chevron tote is just about finished also. I just need to add the interfacing and stitch it all up. I love the purple chevrons. I might have to pick up more of that fabric.

I'll be linking up with Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday again. Check it out!

Progress for the sake of progress

10 points to the first person who can tell me where my title came from. (OK so the points don't really get you anything.)

Anyways...so I was hoping to have my Jungle quilt done by today, but life happens and with three busy boys sewing sometimes doesn't. I basted it last night and was able to do most of the quilting today. And then life happened again. I was down to my last two lines of stitching and wouldn't you know it, my bobbin thread was low. Filled it and looked up and my spool of thread was almost out. 

 

 

What to do, keep going and hope I have enough for one more line, or stop now? I keep going, crossing my fingers, but of course I didn't load the bobbin right so the tension was off. More quality time with the seam ripper. =)

There my quilt sits with two lines of stitching to go.

 

 

Hopefully I will be able to make it to the fabric store tomorrow. Of course thread goes on sale Monday, but do I really want to wait that long. Decisions, decisions.

I will get this quilt done. Hopefully the hiccups are gone for now. =)

 

Almost Done

So I have a quilt top done. Just need to finish up piecing the back and then baste, quilt, and bind.

I followed the pattern on Don't Call Me Betsy for the sliced coin quilt. Love the pattern.

I had a plan all worked out for a pieced back, but then had to rethink it. Which in turn means I got to spend a little quality time with my seam ripper. We're good friends. =)

I also have more totes in the works. I will cut the fabric today, as long as my little tiger will let me. =) I am going to try making them a bit bigger than the first ones. 

 

I am linking up with Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday. Click the image to check it out. 

First Finish!

When I decided to learn to free motion quilt, I figured I would start small and work my way up. I started with a baby quilt and just used one of the stitches on my machine with my walking foot. I learned a lot with this one.

There are things I will do different on the next one. I need to learn how to hide my starts and stops better. My machine has a "fix" button, where it will put a knot in the the thread for you but as you  can see in the picture it leaves a pretty noticeable one. Definitely something I will be researching before the next quilt.

 

Here is the finished quilt.  I used the Moda Ticklish line for the fabrics, and the finished sized turned out to be 39 x 39. I also need to find a better spot for pictures. The shadows don't really work in this one. =) Still I think it turned out pretty cute. I love the bright colors of the fabric.

 

 

 

 

Not too bad for my first time quilting on my machine. I will just have to make more quilts so I can keep practicing. =)

And just for fun, some small tote bags I made with the fabric I had left.

 

 

 

 

So just signed up at bloglovin. Click the link if you want to follow me on there.

"Follow my blog with Bloglovin"

What?! I wanna do that!

I've set a goal for myself this year. I am going to learn how to free motion quilt (FMQ).
I'll share a little back story on how this goal came about.  We got a king size bed last year which means...I get to shop for new bedding. =) Well, long story short, I couldn't find anything that I really liked.  So I decided I would make my own. 

I've been sewing for about 10 years and have made several blankets in that time, usually tied quilts.  I wanted to make a nice quilt for my bed, but didn't want just a tied quilt.  I started looking for fabric and patterns online and just figured I would send it out to be quilted (after I saved up for awhile, that does get pricey, especially for a king size). 

In my search I came across several blogs that talked about using their home sewing machines to quilt with. Of course going through my mind while reading about this "What?! You can do that! How cool is that, I so wanna do this." And so my dream or goal was born.  And out of that goal came the idea for the blog.  I wanted a way to track my progress, so here it is.