WIP Wednesday

I won!  So excited I won a $25 gift card from Intrepid Thread for last weeks link up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.  Wahoo!  At first I thought it was unusual to get an email about the winner, then after reading it a few more times, I finally realized I was the winner.   Now to decide what to buy.

I do have progress to show.  I was able to sew up a few of the book blocks.  Hopefully this week I will be able to finish them up.

I love the Noteworthy line.  It makes me think of Spring, which I am so ready for. I am linking up with WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.  Come check it out!

 

 

First BOM Blocks Done!

I have finished the first set of blocks for both on my BOM's. Yay!  Now I have to try and patiently wait for next months.  I am not a patient person so it is going to feel like a long wait.

 

These are the first two blocks for the Gen X Quilters Vise Versa BOM.  I am making the twin size for my little Tiger. Over Christmas break we switched rooms and boys around so he is now in his own twin bed.  And my oldest, the Monkey is in his own room.  When did my boys get so big. They are growing up way too fast.

 

 These are the first two blocks for the Pile O' Fabric Skill Builder BOM. So far I love how it is looking.  And yes the thread on the spools is supposed to be wonky.  It turned out a little more crazy than planned but I still love it. 

I am linking up with WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

The Farm

This is actually a 2013 finish, but it turned out so well I have to share it.  It is my favorite quilt so far.

I grew up on a farm and next door to my Grandparents.  In between the two houses was a big red barn.  I spent many hours playing in that barn and around the farm.  I think we (brothers, sisters, and cousins)  were outside from sun up until dark most days in the summer.  Lots of fun memories.  Sadly the farm has since been sold and the houses and barn are no longer there.

So when I saw the barn block on Bee in My Bonnet, it reminded me so much of the old red barn I knew I had to make something with it.  Then I saw the tractor block, and knew that had to be included also.  I wanted to make it for my mom for Christmas. It was close but she did have a fully finished quilt to unwrap on Christmas.

 

 

My original plan for the layout wasn't going to work out, but then I saw the Bee in My Bonnet Row Along and thought how great some of those blocks would work with the barn and tractor. I did have to wait for the book Quilty Fun to come out for the patterns.

 

I was toying with the idea of quilting each element separately, but do to time and since it is already pretty busy,  I went with an allover stipple with little flowers thrown in.  I used Aurifil 50wt in #2311.  I love how the quilting turned out.  The little flowers are just so fun, and the chicks in the barn make me smile every time I see them. =)

 

I found some fabric sheets at JoAnn's made for running through an inkjet printer. It is a bit more papery feeling than regular fabric though, so I'm not sure if I like that.  I will have to do some research and see if I can find a better method for labeling.   

All in all a great finish to the end of 2013.  I loved making this quilt and loved giving it away even more.

I am linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for finish it up Friday.

A New Start

While waiting on some fabric for my BOM and other things I decided to cut into some fabric.  I am excited to finally get started on this one.  It has been on the "Quilt Bucket List" for a while now.

I saw the tutorial for it on Happy Quilting.  I love reading and the noteworthy line so this is the perfect quilt.  I figure it will be something to work on between my BOMs.  Hopefully it won't take to long to get it all pieced together.

I am linking up with WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

Sunday Stash

Yay! My fabric for the Pile O' Fabric BOM is here. Choosing fabrics from a computer screen is not the easiest thing to do. Luckily these all work together. Now my fabrics for the Gen X BOM...didn't go so well. I am still waiting on one more that I changed my mind on. I decided to go with Kona Solids for both BOM.


Cerise, Lime, Storm, Oasis, Dk. Violet, Silver

I am going to add in a couple of other shades of purple and grey, but these are the main colors.  They are a little different from what I had originally decided to go with, but I am glad I went with these instead. 

Here is my original color inspiration and coloring sheet. I just wasn't too sure about the orange color.

And this is what I ended up going with. There will be slight variations in some of the fabric placements but it will hopefully look similar to this in the end. I am so excited to start on the blocks!

                                                  

Pile O' Fabric BOM

I am linking up with Molli Sparkles Sunday stash.

 

Starburst Quilt

 I decided to make quilts for my mom and mother in law for Christmas. I started planning around July and figured I'd have plenty of time to get them both done. Ha! Procrastination is my specialty. Luckily I was able to finish this one in time to get it to my mother in law before Christmas.

The pattern is Starburst from Happy Quilting.  It ended up being about 57" x 57".  This is the biggest size quilt I have quilted so far.

I did have a few problems with skipped stiches and thread breakage. My machine worked great until I took it in to have it cleaned and serviced. Of course when I took it back in they didn't have any problems with it. Doesn't it always happen that way though. I did manage to get it done anyway, just took a little longer.

 There is always a bit of fear that my marking lines won't come out in the wash, but thankfully they did. It was great to see it all finished.  I am pretty happy with how it all turned out in the end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year!

Where did 2013 go. Seems like we were just celebrating it and 2014 is here already. I was not very good at keeping up on my blogging, but I did get a few finishes in for 2013. It was a year full of learning and fun. I did meet my goal for 2013 of learning FMQ. Yeah!

 

My goals for 2014

 

~ Keep up on blogging. I love having a place where I can look back at the things of made, and see the progress I have made.

~ Keep practicing and improving my FMQ skills. 

~ Improve my photography skills.

~ Learn new sewing skills. I have signed up for a BOM again, and am looking at signing up for  another one also. I am excited to keep learning.

 

I will post about my 2013 finishes soon, but for now I will just end with my finished Mama Said Sew quilt top.