Warning-Construction Zone!

House #3.

When I laid the first 3 houses together, they looked good without sashing so I decided to sew them together. 

House #4 almost done.

House #5 and 6 all cut and waiting to be pieced.

Fabrics for houses 7,8 and 9 waiting to be cut.

Pile of leftover scraps to be put away.

Don't think I will finish this quilt by tomorrow for the UFO challenge but hopefully this weekend. I think there will be a lot of free-motion quilting once the top is complete. Still need to decide whether I want to add borders and make it lap size or make it a wallhanging. The quilt will be roughly 48 inches without borders.

A Couple Houses

I totally forgot to thank Jen from Little Scraps of Happiness for the thread. She mailed me this thread a couple weeks ago. Her machine didn't like it, so she offered it to me. I used it to quilt my grandmother's quilt (see previous post) and my machine seems to like it. Haven't tried doing free-motion with it yet. The thread is Sulky, 100% cotton.

Remember these? I won them from Sew Take A Hike last month. I decided to use them for the house blocks which are my March UFO.

House #1. 

House #2.

Together. The quilt doesn't call for sashing but I think I am going to add it. I was thinking green since I didn't pull any greens from my stash to use with the blocks. These still need to be ironed and I have 7 more houses to go. My goal has changed from having the whole quilt complete to having all 9 houses done and sashing decided. I only have a couple days left, so we'll see what I can actually get done. The finished size of these blocks are 16 inches. You can find the patterns for these houses, here.

Next week, finishing my bargello jelly roll tutorial will be the priority. The second jelly roll that I needed arrived last week so now I just need to set aside sometime to finish it.

One Thing, One Week Challenge...

 ... is complete! I really didn't think I would get this finished in time. I had the quilt basted and ready to be quilted last Monday, but I didn't start quilting it til yesterday. I just couldn't decide what I wanted to do and even when I sat down to quilt it yesterday afternoon I changed my mind again. I was going to stipple in all the white squares and outline the "blocks".

 However, I've been seeing a lot quilts around blogland being quilted with straight lines and no free-motion and thought this is what this quilt needed. I began with making the "x's" through the blocks - still planning to stipple the white squares.

 But I changed my mind again and did straight line quilting on the white squares too. I love how it turned    out. The binding is a vintage blue fabric that I love and have been holding onto.

 I didn't add any of the borders that were in the original pattern, so the quilt measures 56 x 60. This is a gift for my grandmother.

 I used some favourite fabrics for the pieced back.

Thanks Amy for the challenge. Go see how everyone else did with their challenge.

Little Finishes

 I haven't been doing much sewing this week. I'm afraid that I won't make my one thing one week challenge for tomorrow. Oh well. My niece turned 10 this past Wednesday and I have been working on finishing up her birthday present - Barbie clothes. The dress above is made out of baby yarn and is super soft.

 This dress is a little stiff. I think I am going to wash it to soften the yarn up before I mail it to her.

 Skirt made out of sock yarn and a little beaded hat. I have a few other pieces I've been working on. Hope to get them all finished and in the mail by the end of this week.

 Finished the back of my husband's cardigan. Currently being blocked.

I also finished this scarf. A Christmas present for a niece. Maybe today I'll actually sit down at the sewing machine.

Progress

 Quilt top is basted, waiting to be quilted.

Cast on a second sock. I finished the first sock about a month ago, then made the pair of socks for my sister. Now I can finish this pair for myself.

Scarf for a niece. Not sure yet if it will be a birthday or Christmas present.

Made the arm decreases on the cardigan for my husband. About 8 inches left before I cast off the back.

I already have several yarn projects waiting for me to complete these ones. I try to have only 3 yarn projects on the go at one time - a pair of socks, a big knitted item (like the cardigan) and a crochet project - and at least one of them has to be a mindless project that I can work on during the day when the kids are awake and very distracting.

What I did this weekend and a challenge for this week.

It's that time again. Amy is hosting another, One Thing, One Week Challenge.

I was able to finish piecing this quilt on Saturday. I picked out some backing fabric from my stash. The quilt top needs to be ironed, but I would  really like to quilt it this week. I have some idea of what I want to do, so I think I will be able to get it done.

I should probably work on turning these scraps into the 9 house blocks that are my March UFO for Judy's challenge. Maybe I'll get some of those done, especially since I only have 10 days left before Judy picks the April UFO.

I did finish the socks for my sister this weekend. They just need to be blocked and then they will be ready to head to their new home.

I love how they line up.

Friday Night Sew-In Results

Last night I got all of these fabrics cut to make...

... this quilt. A lot of pieces (240 2 1/2 inch white squares). By the time I was done, it was midnight and I hadn't turned my sewing machine on. That didn't seem right for a Friday Night Sew-In, so I sewed for about a half an hour and...

... completed the first 3 rows. So far I am liking it.

I love the paisley fabrics (this is a Luna Notte jelly roll). 

How I left the remaining rows last night before I went to bed. I moved things closer together so they weren't under the dining room table anymore. I don't want to move the fabrics so I guess I will be working on finishing the top this weekend. Think I need a design wall so I don't have to leave my fabrics on the floor (I cleaned the floor earlier in the day, knowing I was going to do this).

 I also cut the fabrics for this quilt.

Still need to attach the fabrics and I didn't include the birds, as I'm not sure if I am going to add them.   I might put something else there instead. (pattern can be found here).

I also got a little work done on the sock too. Finished the gusset and am now working on the foot. A few more inches and then it will be done.

 Go see what everyone else did last night.

A Few Beginnings

 I've had a few finishes lately, so I guess it is time to start some. The fabrics above will become...

 ... this quilt. A gift for my grandmother. She's not my biological grandmother, but she's been married to my grandfather for almost 40 years. She's a really amazing woman who has had a really rough few months. I won't get into details but I think she deserves this and more.

 Some of these masculine fabrics will become...

 ... this quilt. This is the quilt for tomorrow's National Quilting Day, pattern can be found here.  Not sure if I will get any of it done this weekend. This quilt will also be a gift - either my father or father-in-law.

 Some of these fabrics will become...

 ... this. Monica from Happy Zombie designed it and I just couldn't resist. It will probably end up being a gift for my mom, although she may not want the birds on it. Pattern can be found here.

I'm also happy to say all these fabrics (except the jelly roll for the first quilt which I bought specifically for that quilt) all came from my stash. Even though my no-buying fabric is over (I went 10 weeks), it's nice to shop my stash first. The jelly roll came from Green Fairy Quilts (and it was a great price).

 So, will one of these projects be my project for tonight's Friday Night Sew-In? I haven't really decided what I am going to work on yet. I have ironed some of the fabrics for the projects above so it is possible I may start one of them, or I might finish up some others. Who knows.

Maybe I'll work on finishing this sock. Since this picture I have finished the heel and am working on the gusset. It should be done this weekend.
Stop by tomorrow to see what I actually worked on tonight.

A Few Finishes

2 scarves I made for my sister's birthday, last month. Her present arrived this week (took almost 3 weeks!), so I can finally show them here. I was suppose to make her a pair of socks with this yarn, but for some reason the yarn caused me nothing but trouble, so I crocheted these scarves instead. Pattern was found on ravelry, here. For one, I used a whole skein, the other I made shorter and added some fringe.

Close-up. Quick scarf. I made these two in an evening and a day. Will definitely use this pattern again.

I also made her this knitted basket.

The scarves are in the grey bag and I filled up the rest of the basket with fabric. Happy Birthday Sarah!

This week, I crocheted a quick sweater for my niece. This will be for her 3rd birthday, this July. Still deciding whether I am going to buy a dress or knit one, since I still have 3 skeins of the yarn left. You can find the pattern for the cardigan, here.

I finished quilting and got the binding on this quilt last night. Just needs a wash and then it will be ready for the etsy shop.

I stitched-in-the-ditch along the rows and then added free-motioned flowers over the whole quilt. 

Next up... a post about some projects I want to begin. Maybe one of them will be my Friday Night Sew-In project, this Friday. Have you signed up yet? No? Then you should go here and join in the fun tomorrow night. There's already over 160 signed up.