Friday Finishes!

Made myself sit at the sewing machine and finish up a few things as the Olympics begin to wind down.

Here is last week's string block.

And this week's string block.

Now count them - 1,2,3 finishes!

Doll quilt #1.

Doll quilt #2.

And a baby quilt.

Finally got all three of them finished. Took their pictures and they are now listed in my etsy store, here. First new things I have put in my store all year and it feels really good. Mystery project is now the only thing on my list as it needs to get done - I would like to have it in the mail on Monday.

Now, I am looking forward to March and crossing a few more projects off my list and adding more quilts to my etsy store.

Go Canada Go!

Happy Birthday Sarah!

It's my sister's birthday today! Go over to her blog, SewJoy, to enter her birthday giveaway. Here are some photos of just some of the wonderful things she has made my family. And maybe an embarrassing pic to keep the birthday girl humble.

Sarah. This picture was taken about 2 1/2 years ago, roughly 2 hours before she gave birth to her son. I was very lucky to be there for the awesome event. Thanks for letting me be there Sarah.

Sewing machine cover she made for my daughter's little sewing machine.

Baby quilt she made for my son when he was born 4 years ago. He still uses it. The pictures on the quilt were coloured by my niece.

Sarah was also responsible for the30 for 30 gifts I received last year for my 30th birthday. That was so much fun Sarah, thank you.

My final 30 for 30 present. I absolutely love it. I love looking at it and touching it.

String placemat she made for my son's birthday this year, although he uses it as a blanket.

And here is the embarrassing pic. Happy Birthday Sarah!

I Blame the Olympics

So, I blame the Olympics for my lack of finished projects this week. I had 3 projects so close to done and yet I didn't finish them. It's hard to quilt and hear the tv at the same time. I discovered some things I could do while watching Olympics though, like go through all the quilt patterns I have printed off in the last 8 years, organize them and get rid of some. This is about half.

I might not start any new projects but I can play with fabric in front of the tv. Here are 12 fabrics for a bargello quilt.

And here are some fabrics for a quilt from...

..."Material Obsession". My wonderful sister got me the book for Christmas and I haven't posted about it. I have decided to make all the quilts in this book. So far I have fabric for 2 of them set aside. Just need to finish up some projects so I can get started on some new ones.

I did do some quilting. This is its second time. I was 1/4 way done when I noticed the tension was terrible on the back and ripped everything out. Think I have things figured out and have started again.

I did get some work done on the mystery project but of course I can't show any of that. However, here is the thread I bought this weekend for it.

And here is what I have been doing during the hours of Olympic coverage (breaks taken for "Jeopardy" and "Lost", and to put the kids to bed). A baby blanket, that I designed, and will go in my etsy store. Above is a picture with the flash on.

Here it is with the flash off. It's definitely not this pink but it isn't as pale as the above picture suggests. It is a pink and white yarn.

Now, off to spend some time with my kids in the snow before Olympic coverage starts up again at noon. Go Canada!

Oh, What a Weekend!

Where's all the projects that usually cover my quilt table?

Oh, there they are - Finished!

A pair of oven mitts (my first ones ever). A co-worker of my husband's asked me to make them for her. She is so nice and gives my kids presents and so I wanted to give her more than just the oven mitts.

Here is a pot holder.

And a matching table runner. She is from Peru and loves colour. Her husband is colour blind so can't see reds and greens (which of course she likes). So...

... I used red on the back of the table runner (binding too) and on the back of the pot holder.

Here is another finish. I thought I would finish this later on in the Olympics but I spent more time in front of the tv then I thought I would this weekend. Go Canada!

It's a baby blanket for my niece/nephew that is due to arrive this June. I used this pattern 6 years ago and I really liked it. Not sure if I would do it in variegated yarn again since it is so hard to see the whole alphabet.

And here are my projects for this week. Binding on the 2 doll quilts, quilt and bind the baby quilt lying on top and get some work done on a mystery project that needs to be done by the end of the month. Everything, except the mystery project are for my etsy store. It's about time I put something new in there.

Ribbon, Ric Rac and Buttons - Oh My!

I don't do a lot of embellishing. I have a box of different ribbons that I never use and some buttons sitting in a container. However, I had a little project in mind (one of the project's from my sewing day calendar), that required ribbon, ric rac and buttons. So I went out and bought the above.

And here is the result. 2 needle cases. One is for me and one is a gift. Definitely not the greatest thing I have made but it was fun (in a frustrating way). The fabric was already in my stash just waiting for the right project.

Here is the inside of the needle cases. Quilting needles are on the top and embroidery needles are on the bottom.

Making the needle cases made me purge my needle stash. Here are all the needles I got rid of. I still have way more than I could ever use. How did I get all these needles? Every little cross-stitch thing I have ever done came with a needle - guess I have done a few. I kept some needles though to do ...

... The Super Embroidery Kit with my daughter. This was a Christmas present from my sister and will teach her how to do several stitches. Decided we are going to do it together - her to learn and review for me. We'll see how it goes.

String Block of the Week

Here is my string block for this week. I got a bag of 3 inch strips I had been saving for a different project that I just don't see getting done any time soon. Decided to use some of the bigger pieces as middle strips and the others will get cut in half. Discovering I have a lot of blue fabric. These blocks are very fun to make and I could easily just make these all day and have my amount for the year but it's also fun to do one a week.

Product Review

I bought this fusible thread several years ago after seeing an episode of "Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting". I had planned on doing the project they did on the show but of course I never did. So, the thread just sat in my stash waiting to be used and waited and waited. I finally got up the courage to use it on Tuesday. What I liked about it was that it could be used in the bobbin or as the top thread. I decided to use it in the bobbin.

I am currently working on a secret project that has a lot of leaves. I tried to go around the edge of the leaf but found it easier to make the line down the middle. Here are some top views. I used the fusible thread in the bobbin since I needed to see the top of the leaf for line placement (this will be clearer later on when you can see the final project). I was willing to try this new thread, since the leaves will require a lot of positioning when they get placed on the quilt.

However, the tension was terrible. I literally tried every tension on my machine and this is the best I could get. Think if I use this thread again I will use it as a top thread. Now, I need to work up the courage to iron the leaves in place. I'm a little nervous so that might not happen for a day or two but this project needs to get done by the end of the month.

If the ironing goes well I will definitely keep the thread and try it as s top thread for a different project. If the ironing doesn't go well, I will be throwing the thread in the trash. I'll keep you posted. Has anyone else worked with fusible thread?

What I did yesterday

So, I did a little blogging yesterday, but I also got some quilting done. Here is another block for my son's preschool teacher's quilt.

Here's another one that I got done.

I have enough blocks done of this quilt that I started to put it together. Here is the middle section.

The top row of blocks. I have the 4 bottom row blocks left to piece. I think I will quilt in sections since this quilt is so huge. I am really loving it though. It will be hard to let go of but she deserves it. It makes me want to try other samplers. I usually find them too busy but I like this one. I'm not sure how many people they had test this pattern since there were a lot of errors (frustrating errors) throughout.

I also got these blocks pieced together. I know my sister knows what these are for (testing a pattern for her). The blocks have been sitting on my desk for months but are now all together and waiting for the final steps. Hopefully this weekend?

Something else to do

I know - 3 posts in one day! Let's just say the kids are being very good today.

So, I came across yet another project that I have decided to do this year. It's a BOM and it's snowmen, so how could I resist? Go visit BunnyHill Designs for all the fun and perhaps you will follow along too. Now to dig out my holiday fabric again.

The Last Birthday Present

My son's birthday was just over a week ago. His last present arrived yesterday in the mail. He gave it a shake and wondered what was inside.

My sister made him a placemat with his initial quilted on top. However he thinks it makes a good blanket for his buddies. I guess it's a buddy blanket, not a placemat.

Great job Sarah. Maybe it will be used as a placemat... someday.

SALE!

Quilted Wall Hangings are the Sale of the Month over in my etsy store. Go take a look. I hope to get some new items in the store this month.

It's February First and I Already Have a Finish!

I tried to get the quilt for the silent auction done last night, but the binding didn't get on until this morning so it is a February finish. I guess the pressure is off for the rest of the month. I call this quilt "In Bloom". It's just covered in flowers but not in an ugly way (in my opinion at least).

Close up of one of the blocks.

Close up of another block - see all the flowers?

Even more flowers!

And the back. I will never, EVER, use vintage fabric for a back again. It was terrible to work with. It was hard to keep in place. Even basting each row as I went to try to keep it under control didn't really help and there are bumps and stuff that I'm not very proud of. Another lesson learned I guess. Now I can start cutting up my big vintage pieces to use in blocks instead of saving them.

Glad it is done. I even gave this quilt a label since it had a name. I don't usually do labels since I feel a lot of pressure to name the quilts (and no matter what I do, labels are never straight). The name for this quilt just came to me as I was attaching the binding this morning so then I had to add a label. "In Bloom" - I think the name works.