2 More finishes and some other stuff

Here is my second finish for January, the doll quilt for the silent auction. This is what I was working on when I hurt my thumb. I was surprised at how nervous I was to use my machine again.

Close-up.

The back. My mom gave me this fabric at Christmas. You can also see the quilting - just outlined the flowers and squares.

My third finish for January is a pair of legwarmers for my daughter. She'll mainly be wearing these during skating lessons.

My sister and I have decided to make one string block a week for the year and when the year is over we will have a quilt top all ready to go. I'm doing this instead of the usual mystery quilt with the quilt guild. I had started out trying to do just 7 strips per block but it was tricky. I think it is interesting that my sister took her 4 for January and made one big block, while I am sewing mine together in rows.

Here is a preview of the lap quilt for the silent auction. I finally started quilting it today and it is going fast. Got half of it done within an hour. I am using multi-coloured thread and I think it looks really good. Hopefully I'll be showing you a completed quilt soon. I told the fundraising chair that I would bring it to her on Monday.

A Couple Things Done and a Lesson Learned

Both of my kids earned a skating badge last week. I was able to get them sewn on their respective quilts last night. Above is my daughter's.

And here is my son's.

Here are their quilts hung up in their room. They are both very proud of their badges.

I thought I was on a roll and so I started to quilt this doll quilt - even though it was about 11pm. I was almost finished when I made a big mistake.

I quilted my thumb. Ouch! No blood got on the quilt but it's pretty tender. We also started renovating the kitchen this week so that is taking up some time but I need to get the auction quilts done by Monday. Guess my week is going to be pretty busy.

Finish #1

Here is my first finish of 2010, and it isn't a quilt! I started this afghan during the holidays and worked on it in the car and while visiting with family. This is lap size and is a gift for my grandmother. Not sure how I am going to get it there as we have no plans to visit Canada anytime soon.

Here's a close-up of the blocks. I really enjoyed making this afghan. I forgot how nice it was to sit and crochet and watch tv, talk with my family, or enjoy a cup of tea between stitches. Sometimes quilting feels very solitary since I am off in the corner by myself (although my children come and visit often). However, it is very hard to keep up a conversation and quilt at the same time. Already planning 2 more crochet projects for this year - a baby afghan for a niece or nephew arriving in June and some legwarmers for my daughter for skating lessons.

Craft Hope for Haiti

We are all looking for a way to help the thousands, if not millions, of people affected by the earthquake in Haiti. Craft Hope for Haiti has opened an etsy store. Items have been donated by crafters and all proceeds goes to Doctors without Borders. If you can, go take a look, buy yourself or someone else a little something and feel good that your money is going to help others.

Quilt Top

Here is the quilt top I completed last weekend for the silent auction. I'm still unsure about the border fabric and so I haven't started to quilt it yet. I really like how the purple fabric jumps out at you. Overall, I really like it.

Slightly closer look. I made one mistake in piecing but the pattern is very forgivable and so I didn't bother to fix it. Still looks good to me.

Close-up of the corner. I don't know if I have ever used so many patterned fabrics in 1 quilt. They all look good together though, right?

Here is the backing. I'm lucky to have enough of this vintage fabric to do the whole back. Plan is to start quilting this by the weekend. Still deciding exactly how I am going to quilt it but I have some ideas.

OPAM!

I have decided to join OPAM this year, which stands for One Project a Month. Go over to Kris's Blog to find out more information. They are only allowing 200 people to participate and it is almost full. Should be a fun time and keep me focused on finishing something every month.

The Transformation Begins

Here is what my quilt table looked like when we got home from the holidays. Fabric, books and everything else spread all over. Even my chair had piles of fabric on it. Time to clean up.

Here is some fabric set aside for etsy projects.

Some of the beautiful fabric from my sister-in-law. They have already been selected for a future quilt.

Some of the kid fabrics from my mother. The heart fabric on the left will be used as a back for one of ...

... these doll quilts. I am making one for my son's preschool silent auction and the other for etsy.

This is the quilt I am making for the silent auction. It's from the Spring 2009 Quilts and more.

I will be using these fabrics from my stash. [ I was a very busy girl this weekend and ironed, cut and pieced the quilt top. I picked another fabric from my stash for the final border and another for the back - will take pictures and post later]

My table at the end of organizing. My sewing machine is now plugged in and some project piles have been moved to get me more working room. Excited to have one quilt top done already. Hope to get the quilt sandwich together today and maybe even start quilting.

Happy New Year!

So, last Friday was officially the start of the new year, but I wasn't ready so today is the start of the new year for me. I feel a little more ready and organized for it now. Last week was crazy. Now I'm home and ready to face all the challenges this year will bring. (did I use the word "ready" enough in that paragraph?)

Got myself this day calendar. Trying to increase my sewing ablities.

First project. I might do this with scraps leftover from making half square triangles.

Second project. Too bad I already have one.

Third project. Think I might try this one before we go on another road trip.

I saw that some quilters had come up with words for the year. I came up with...
... It feels like the right word for 2010. We will be moving somewhere else as my husband graduates from his Ph.D. program here. There are so many changes this year that I can't control (such as my brother going to Afghanistan) that I decided I would work on some changes that I can control - more personal changes than professional changes. My quilt changes will be focusing on making stuff I want to make for others and for my etsy store. I started to feel at the end of last year that I was trying to make things I thought would sell and not necessarily things I liked; a lot of those projects never got completed since I had no passion for them. Another change is to work quilting into my day, everyday. Whether I get hours at the sewing machine or just 5 minutes to look at my stash or a magazine, I need to keep feeding my creativity.

Here's to getting my sewing machine plugged in today. To finishing my "Change" inspiration. To having a great day. Happy 2010!

"Work"during the Holidays

I ended up taking my sewing machine with me when I went away for the holidays. Surprisingly I got some quilting done.

I finished making all my nine patches and finished the 11 double nine patches I still needed to make. Here are my blocks with some my sister made.

I also got 4 blocks done for my son's teacher's quilt. I am now almost 2 weeks ahead of myself on this project. I can also put the first row together but haven't yet. Here are pics of the 4 blocks I finished. I keep forgetting that they are 16 inch blocks until I am done putting it together and have such a big block in my hands. So far I really like them and am really looking forward to the finished quilt.









Next on my list will be the quilts for the preschool silent auction on February 6th. Still haven't picked fabrics, or design but hopefully that will be decided this week. Not much time left.