Year End Wrap Up Post

I thought I would come in under the wire with the projects I finished this year.  I have been sewing but too much going on everywhere else to take the time to blog.

I have had most of last week and all this week off which is really wonderful.  My goal is to enter the new year refreshed.

This will be a long post with lots of pictures so I hop you enjoy it.

My quest to use up stash had me making this 16 patch with blues and off whites.

 I had tried a large quilting design but really didn't love that look.  Live and learn. I am thinking this one will be for one of my kids friends.

This next one was using up some of the batiks I had cut.  The pattern is from the free ones on Fat Quarter Shop.  I just adjusted my size since I had my squares already cut.

I did large square meandering in a Sulky orange thread.  This turned out fun.  This quilt was donated on Instagram through #getyourquiltywishesgranted.  @sewandrealeah an oncology nurse asked for quilts so she could give them out on our shift on Christmas.  She needed around 35 and actually received 45.  They made their Christmas night a bit brighter.  I was happy I could help.

I had done the Scrappy Mountains earlier this year but both were made out of the same stack of batiks.

I also had made this quilt this year.  This block was my bee block and I joined an Instagram swap as well. This one was made completely from stash and I love it!

 The back is one large plus.  A friend of mine does this and I thought it worked perfect. The quilting was free from lines and then small type beads or circles.  I went quickly.  I also used Cotton and Steel view finders for the binding which was perfect.

I finished my Tula Pink City Sampler and have the back done too.  This one is going to the long armer it is really big!

I still have a few more to add but really think this is it for now.  Hopefully I will finish them up this week and can start the new year fresh. 

Enjoy your holidays and hope you are getting some sewing time in. 

A New Scrappy Mini

I have three minis that I need to make this fall and the first one to ship is later October but I have a vacation coming up so want to get this one done by the end of the month.  Actually I really want to get all three done before I leave.

First one up my partner likes bright colors, a recent interest in Dresden's and a favorite designer is JeliQuilts.  So I think I met the goals of that with this design I came up with.

This is the background I will be using but have to pick up more since I don't think I will have enough.

All of the fabrics I am starting with my scrap bin and what is laying around on my cutting table and a few I pulled from stash but not many.  I pulled more than I thought I would need for this.

 I did finish the yellow to orange as well last night but didn't take a picture of that yet.

I am really liking how this is taking shape.  I may on the bottom row make the blocks to say SEW as my partner also likes word quilts.

I need to finish up the right side with the two strips of flying geese which can be found on Craftsy for free here.  I am not a proficient paper piecer but I think I am doing ok so far.  I only had to rip a couple of times when the pieces didn't fit right.  They are taking a little longer than I thought they would and I am not quite sure how I am going to get all the parts to fit together yet but I will figure that out once I have them completed.

I am linking up with She Can Quilt for Scraptastic Tuesday.

New Love of Minis

I hadn't blogged on my finished Cotton and Steel or what I received so here it is!

I love it!  And happy to report is was well received by my partner.  This was the first on line swap I had done so there was lots of apprehension on what to make and pick but in the end all good.

I sent along a notebook with a cover and a couple of goodies.

I wanted to do something I had not done before and a lone star had long been on my list.  I had a tutorial pinned.  I think it turned out beautiful and it was pieced in strips.  I did have some issues with my Y seams but nothing a lot of steam and Best Press didn't solve. And it was not nearly as hard or scary as I thought it would be.

In return I received this mini with a sweet note and a couple of treats.  It is now hanging in my sewing home with hopes to add a few more to my wall as I did already sign up for another.

I have made a rule that only one at a time and I have not broken it yet been tempted but don't want to only sew for others so I have to remember to keep a balance.

I have to say I do like making the minis.  So from that same site I also made the Anchor blocks for my hubby for his birthday.  Yeah that was in April and not they were not done in time but they were for the first time at the cottage and they look awesome especially with that Summerville Quilt which I still love.

Aren't those cute?!  They were a little putsy but so worth the effort and love it in some Daysail by Bonnie and Camille.

Thanks for stopping by and will be linking up with the Crazy Mom Quilts, Whoo Whoo It's Friday, NTT, Sew Fresh Quilts.

Graduation Quilt-Too Hip to be Square

I bought this fabric at my local quilt store with a coupon with out a plan for it.  So it sat for a little bit not really long considering the rest of the stash.

Then it hit me this is the perfect fabric for my youngest son's girlfriend for graduation.  I showed Sam the fabric and his response, "is that for Lauren? She would LOVE that."  Well, that is all I needed I already had the pattern picked from a free one from Moda Club.  I cut the fabric out while watching a movie and starting sewing it up.

Then I laid it out in the basement.  I kept a few of the blocks for the back. (I really to tidy up a bit.)

I quilted it with a meandering and an occasional paisley.  I liked the quilting and it went quickly.  I did have a deadline!  Notice the color of the lighter what appears to be green here.  It was a very light aqua color.  Basement night time lighting here for sure.

Here are a few pictures of it after I finished it.  I did not have it ready for the day of her party but did finish it in time for her birthday.  So it was a combination gift. There is a Tula Pink strip for the binding.

I had this Dear Stella paisley in my stash and it worked out really well with the left over blocks. I signed it in one of the boxes.

One more of the back and you can see the quilting on it.  I used my favorite Aurfil on this one 2600 Silver.  That color just blends perfectly.

Have to say she loved it!  These are her favorite colors and she loves animals.  I quilted her name and the year into the quilt as well but forgot to snap a picture of that.  I received a very sweet thank you note and it will be the center of her decorating for the dorm room come September.  

This is one of the quickest turn around I made on this quilt.  I think it was about a 3-4 weeks.  I really loved this pattern as well.

This one finished up about 60 X 70.

Linking up to all the Friday Parties - links are on the side bar.  

Q3 Goals

So I am going to attempt to list my goals, attempt to finish them, and then post them!  Last quarter I did have some finishes but I didn't get to blogging about them yet. That is in the works.

I like to know what I have in the works to try to keep myself focused and finish those that I start up.  I did clean up the sewing room yesterday and realized (not that I had forgotten) but I have a lot started and I have bought some more very pretty fabric recently and I need to keep sewing it up!

1.  Churn dash quilt- This quilt is together and I bought thread to match each section. Need to make a back and quilt it up.

2.  Batik scrap - this is now a top and needs a back and quilting.  This was the third quilt made from the same stack of batiks and will be a donation quilt.

3.  Simply Mini Quilt - Right now am planning a Dresden plate in modern fabrics.  This one is in the beginning planning stage and is due to ship mid October.

4.  Mini 9 patch in Cotton and Steel- These are super cute at 3 1/2" and not sure how many or what the final layout will be but they are cute.

5.  Low Volume Plus Swap-I did an online swap and had this block for my turn in a bee.  I have all the blocks and want to put this one together.  They are ready to be laid out.  These are only the ones from the bee.  So pretty.

6.  Tula Pink- Yes it needs to remain on this list and really hoping for some motivation to sew this one up. And I sure do have one missing block that I never made.

7.  Botanics-Precious Sew-Along- I picked the fabric and tested the block but want to spend some time with this stack of fabric because I love it.  Now I need to start cutting since I have my plan.

Seriously, I think that is enough.  I don't sew nearly as much in the summer as I do in the fall/winter. We have lots going on as always but with one son on his own and the other leaving for college in the fall I am hoping I have more time to sew.  However, the hubby does like to hang out with me and unfortunately not in the sewing studio.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday and On The Windy Side for the Q3 Goals.  I am coming up right under the wire.  Thanks for reading!

Finally a Friday Finish

Well this quilt has been done a while now but just haven't had the time/taken the time to get anything written on it.  As this is the place I keep what I have done and how it happened I need to get this one written.  This was finished in February and you can see the snow in pictures!

This quilt was started in January of 2013 as the Moda Friendship Quilt as part of the Monthly club at my LQS.  I made blocks with fabric I liked with a focus on picking navy and a color and a variety of greys in the blocks.  

I didn't do the layout the shop had and I didn't want to do the one Moda came out with either, I felt they were a little too busy and wanted to calm all the color down a bit and make it bigger.  Not really sure why I feel every quilt I make should fit a bed but I seem to do that often.

The setting is from the book Quilt Vintage Revival.  I made the setting blocks and the put sashing around the blocks.  When I made the back, I made it a tad too small to send to the long arm quilter so no problem I will quilt it.  

Every block is quilted differently and put the same design in the blue squares and then swirls in the background.  It really wasn't too bad but really would have been easier to sew on some extra fabric.

I know that I didn't want to pay to custom quilt it so I am really happy with the way it turned out.



This one ended up being 90" x 107".  It still has not found it's final home yet in the house but I do love it!  I like to sew with out a plan and in the end looks like I had a plan.  At least it does to me!  My hubby always thinks there is too much color going on and I can't get enough.

Thanks for stopping and reading.  I am linking to Finish it Friday, Whoo Whoo It's Friday, Let's Bee Sewcial, NTT,

Q2 Goals

I am going to attempt finish more in Q2 than I did in Q1.  I finished 2 out of 8 projects but didn't link up in time.  I only wrote about the one finished table runner but not the quilt.  I still need to do that.
I think I need to par down the list and hopefully stay focused and funnel my sewing time to finishing up some of these this quarter.  My sewing in the summer always slows down too just too many other things to do!

Here is my Q2 List:

1.  Blue and White 16 patch -Roll over from last month but now the quilt top is together and the back are complete just to baste, quilt, and bind.

2.  Churn Dash Mini- finish piecing.  I bought my solids that I needed.  Roll over from last quarter and no progress.

3.  Tula Pink 100 blocks-Rollover since 2013!  I did lay this out with several options and still not ready to commit.  I did figure out that I have one block missing!

4.  Cotton and Steel Mini quilt for a IG swap.  I just ordered my fabric and I have finalized my plan.  I printed out paper samples of the fabrics and played with them.  The colors were off but I had a general idea of what I wanted but needed to play with out buying all the options in my head.  Here is a picture of my plan.  The colors read more blue but it is more green.  I can't wait to start piecing this one.

Here is the fabric - the pink didn't make it yet.

5.  Binder Cover- I make a cover for the club I am in at my LQS so I paper pieced this heart and need to finish it up.

I am leaving it at 5 and two of these are smaller projects.  As I am writing I am thinking of all the other things I have started or that I want to start so hopefully this will keep me focused and productive this quarter.

Linking up to On the Windy Side.

April's Lovely Year of Finishes Goal

It is time to make one goal and accomplish it.  I think getting the scrappy blue and beige sixteen patch done for the month of April is totally doable.

I have all the blocks together and laid out on the floor.  So I just need to stitch it together, and start quilting.  I can see this finish!

Linking up with Sew Bittersweet Designs and with Oh Scrap.

Some Scrappy Sewing

I can't believe how long it has been since I have written anything.  Life has just gotten in the way.  I have been sewing and trying to sew some WIP's.  I even have a finish to post soon too.  I need to get those done for the Q1 FAL.  I will not get anywhere near finishing the eight I had listed but I am trying to get some of them done.

What I have been working on is getting my fabric and scraps in order and sewing my stash.  Some quilty friends and I have again agreed to do a bee but this time the queen picks the block and color theme and you sew from your own stash. I don't know about you but I love other people's stash so much more than my own.  So I picked the low volume plus block.  And lucky me there was a swap on Instagram as well.  So this one will be full of lots of scrappy goodness.  Here are my blocks to swap.  I think I still need to make 12 more and then I will have enough for a very large lap.  I love these blocks easy and fun to make!

I also have been going through my own scraps. I have some really old scraps and they never seem to go away and I am ready to let them go.  So I went through my 2.5" and 3.5" strips.  I kept ones I still loved or was going to be using in a project and I put the rest aside to give to a local church who does charity quilts.  I hope they can put them to good use.

Here is the stack of 2.5" strips. Yikes!  I know what I want to sew this year and these are not in my near future plans so getting rid of them and that made it possible to better organize my solids.

They just looks so pretty all stacked up by color.  I really need to sew some of this up!  

I have been sewing up some 16 patches in blue and beige and have 30 of them done.  Need to make 26 more I think this might be finish by month end.

 I have had this small stack of Economy Blocks from a flickr swap from 2013 I think  I made four more up and it will either be a mini for the sewing room or a pillow for the living room.  I think they are pretty cute little blocks.

Lots of scrappy stuff going on here so linking up to She Can Quilt for Scraptastic Tuesday and Oh Scrap at Quilting is More Fun than Housework.  

I should be posting a finish this week as well.  Just need to get through the photos.  Thanks for reading!

First Finish in 2015

I finished my goal for ALYOF over two weeks ago but almost didn't get this posted in time.  It was nice to start out and make a small finish that I needed and wanted in the laundry room.

I used the pattern from the FQS and used a charm pack in my stash and most of the fabric pack I had as well.  I cut up a few things and I think I am gifting them to a lady that I met my LQS meeting.  She loves Mary Engelbright and I want less fabric in the house!  That is a win-win!

I was working on pinning this on the basement floor.  Can you tell by the photo?  When I realized I had sewed on a piece backwards.  Not sure how or when that happened but unpinned it and fixed it.  I could never have lived with that.  It took about 30 minutes to fix.

So here is the very cute new table runner long enough to cover the washer and dryer all fixed and finished.  This is where everything gets dropped when we come into the house through our garage so it saves on nicks and scratches on the top of them and since this is right off the kitchen it needs to look good! No I haven't put it there yet! That is on tomorrow's to do list.

Nothing fancy with the quilting this time just straight lines on each side of the colored squares. I went with the scrappy binding to use up what I had. Here is the link to my goal and this is also on my Q1 list as well.  

I am really hoping to find some time to sew tomorrow.  I hope everyone else is sewing and making beautiful things.  

Oh and I signed up for my first mini quilt swap on Instagram.  Oh the pressure - that is not due till June so lots of time to think about that one.

Happy sewing!

Q1 2015 Goals

So a fresh start with some new goals and a few left over from last year (and maybe 2013) as well.  This year the Finish Along is taking place at On the Windy Side.  Hopefully this will keep me motivated to finish a few of them up.  As usual I put it all on here and see what happens.

1.  Moda Friendship Quilt - this quilt has been on my list all of 2014 and while it is together and FMQ has begun it is big but I so want this one done so I don't have to have it on here for another quarter!

2.  Tula Pink City Sampler - I did get all of my blocks together and figured out a background color now I just need to get the top done.  I think this one may to to the longarmer.  This one was on my list all of last year.

3.  Blue and beige 16 patch scrap quilt - I pulled this one last quarter from the scrap bin and have not worked on it at all but Sarah from Confessions of a Fabric Addict is starting a QAL for the Hands 2 Help quilts so this is perfect since it is just waiting to be used.

4.  Moda Modern Building Blocks - pulled the fabric but haven't started

5.  Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt from Quiltville - I have worked on this in November and December and lots of the pieces are made not all but I love the finished quilt so this should be fun to make

6.  Church dash blocks - I have wanted to make this block for a while and I needed about 20 blocks for a project so I made them up one night.  I love them.  Not sure how they will finish up but excited to see what I come up with.

7.  String Quilt - I made the light one last year and still have some left and the dark bin is over flowing so planning on using them.  So either a giant star or the spider web or both I really do have enough.  Thinking this will be a Spider Web block.

8.  Runner for the washing machine/dryer- The one I have now is about 19 years old and wearing out I really need a new one.  I am going to use the FQS new free pattern with a charm pack I had stashed away.

Really not sure how I will even finish half of this list but I sure am going to try!