May Goal Accomplished

So happy that I finished my May goal.  Let's forget the fact that it was April's goal as well for a Lovely Month Of Finishes.  I actually finished two quilts last night!  I was very happy with getting them done and they way they both turned out.

My goal was my X and Plus quilt and I started this one back in the beginning of 2013 and it has been on my Quarterly Goals and few monthly goals since then.  But no more she is done and I love it.

I started this quilt out as my first swap on Flickr.  That was fun to sew up blocks and then get that many back in the mail in someone else's fabric.  I think my scraps are not as fun, nice, or cool as someone else's so this was perfect.  It mixes it up and I love all the different fabrics in it.  I then made the rest of the blocks and from the looks of this quilt I definitely like orange!

I had pulled a 3 different bindings and I had orange in my head and the Lotta Jansdotter's trees was the perfect color to me for the binding and then 3 other "judges"agreed with me.  Poor Sam was the only one who liked the blue and we were all in agreement that the red one I picked didn't work.  So I went with orange much to his dismay.  This was also the first time I used 2 1/4" binding and it worked out really well.

As for the back I used up stash in my never ending quest to use more fabric.  (It doesn't seem to be working).I quilted this on the my new Juki.  I love it however, there was a problem with the walking foot and a new one is being sent.  It was making awful noises and would even jam up.  Very frustrating! My friend has this machine and I borrowed hers, that one worked perfect!  So I know it is not user error.  There are a few things to learn on a new machine!

I did three lines through diagonally on each of the blocks.  This quilt is so soft and can't wait to use it.

This is also the one that I had ripped some lines of stitching out and the back came out as one of the best ever!  I am so happy I did that.  (that is some really old vintage fabric on the back).

I am linking up today at Crazy Mom Quilts, Whoo Whoo it's Friday, Lovely Month of Finishes at Sew Bittersweet Designs and this one is also on Q-2 Goals so linking up at The Littlest Thistle when the time comes.

Thanks for reading and hope you have a wonderful weekend which includes some sewing!

A small finish

I finished this a couple weeks ago but was busy and sort of forgot about it.  I really wanted to try and take some pictures with the leaves since it reminds me of autumn.  I love those red leaves.  Timing was not working so I was able to leave work early and could snap a couple of photos before it got dark.  

We have mainly yellow leaves in our yard.

But I thought this looked pretty with the bayberry bushes!

I had won the scraps at my Moda Club meeting and they were partially sewn together so I made random blocks and then used the red from the pack we had gotten for the binding and an old beige Moda Marble for the back.  I  free motioned quilted the flower design from Angela Walter's book.  I love the look of that design and thought it would work on here.  There are some florals in the fabric.  Plus it was good practice! Nice small manageable practice piece.   Not sure where it will end up but has been hanging out at the table in our living room.  I may gift it too so we will see.

A closer look at the quilting.

It sure is fun to have a quick cute finish.  

I actually did name this quilt too!  Not something I do often but I named it Autumn Day.

This measures at 24"x30"

Thanks for stopping and enjoy the weekend. 

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts, TGIF, and Can I get a Whoo Whoo?  I am sure I will be hopping to see what everyone has been up to later since it was a long week this week!  So happy it is Friday and to have some sew time!  Enjoy!

Wedding Quilt-A Finish

So my #2 son and I went over to the park to see if we could get some photos before it got too dark last night.  It was fun but had to set up pretty quickly since the sun was fading fast.  I starting making this quilt in April for a friend who is getting married tomorrow.  She is the girl who has everything!  Buying her something didn't seem like the right thing for me to do.  This is her first wedding and has lived on her own for years and I wanted something special.  I saw this on Don't Call me Betsy as a wall hanging and new immediately that I wanted to make this in a throw size.  (Sorry this going to be a long post.)

My hubby asked how we got this to hang on the wall.  There are a couple of old barns at the park and my lovely son held this up.  He had strict instructions that I didn't want any toes sneaking out!  He kept pulling it down "are we done yet?"  

As we walked towards the pond they had this sign for no swimming and I think it was made to hold quilts!  This may be my new go to spot to take photos.  It was really hard to get the quilting to show up.  This close up did a better job on that.  Starting at the top (that was the last section I did) there are concentric circles with wavy lines.  Each section was divided up by lines with pebbles and then a side by side lines.   Moving clockwise around the quilt there are swirls, flower, paisley, and then swirls with pebbles.  The thread was Superior So Fine.  It was beautiful to work with.  I ordered from Red Rock Threads.  I had run out and I ordered more and it came very quickly!  I will be ordering from them again.

You can see some the quilting better in these photos.

Then for the back I did free piecing for the date from the Word Play book.  I only needed to redo 2 of them to get the size I wanted.  I loved how they turned out.  The back fabric and the binding were from the Shades of Black from Me and my Sister.  The back is really beautiful fabric but is very busy so you can not see the quilting.  As I am definitely still learning and by no means even close to perfect it is nice to hide any of those issues that came up.The binding was the black tone on tone stripe.  The letters were the scraps from the front and the background was the grey with tiny white polka dots.

We, I mean son #2 set up the next shot by hanging it over the end of the sign. My photo - I didn't want to include the sign but he thought that looked cool.  He also tends to get much lower and change up the perspective.  He has a very good eye.  (I call him my quilt critic quite often-he has great perspective and a good eye and is brutally honest).  I also added a label. (still need to sign it and wrap it up)

If you read through this post - wow- thank you!  This quilt was quite the learning experience and I think this may be one of my favorites I have made and am sad to see it leave.  But I know it is going to a good home.

Quilt Stats:

Backgroup- Essex Black Yarn Dyed
Pinks - scraps and a few 1/4 yard cuts
Binding and back Shades of Black by Me and My Sister
Thread- pieced Auril 50 wgt white
Thread - quilting Superior so Fine
Batting - a white cotton (not sure what kind)
Size 60"x 72"

I am so happy with this quilt and will be linking up at Crazy Mom Quilts,  Can I get a Whoo Whoo? This quilt is also on my list for the Finish Along for Q3.  I really thought I would have it done in July but so happy I finished it with 6 days to spare for the gift giving!

Shine Finish

I finished quilting this one up last week in plenty of time for my April goal of the Lovely Year of Finishes.

I free motioned stars over all of it using two different colors.  I used the poly thread from Superior So Fine on the light areas and then in the red/blue areas I used a red in Aurifil.  I wanted to try the So Fine thread since that is what Angela Walters uses and I just finished watching her class on Craftsy.  I liked them both.  I didn't really think one was better than the other or they looked different either.  Maybe they will when they are washed as I have not done that yet.

I did the outer border with bigger stars all the way around.

When I had it finished both the DS and DH both loved it.  They wanted to know why I don't make more in that color scheme.  While I do love the look from far away this quilt gave me a little heartburn so not my favorite but I think it did turn out great. I really liked the back.  I bought one piece of the QOV fabric and used a navy with white stars that I had in my stash since about 1994!  I had enough for the back and the binding!  That one piece added looked great!

Thanks for stopping by! Linking up with Let's Get Acquainted Meet over at Gemini Stitches.

List of Goals found here.

Linking up at She Can Quilt for the Finish Along.

Scrap Vomit

I did get the top done on the scrap vomit quilt.  I was thinking about adding another row but the DS #2 said we really didn't have any square quilts so I should leave it.  Well, that was good enough for me to call it done.  I quilted swirls on it and it looks good now that it is done.  I have a hard time starting and stopping and then I get some skips or jumps in my stitches.  I still really need to work on my stitch length.  Once I wash this you really won't notice.

The back is an oldie and not really calling it a goody either.  I have bought lots of pretty fabric this month so I used a piece I had in the stash from the early nineties!  Mauve and fushia together not so much but from the front I do like it!

 This one was on both my Lovely Month of Finishes and the Q1 Finish Along.  I did not make all of my goals but I did pretty darn well on finishing things up. So go over and see what everyone has finished up.

Also linking up over at Crazy Mom Quilts for finish it up Friday!

Finally, the quilting is done!

I started this quilt in 2009 and the top has been done since 2010 and I was practicing FMQ just to finish this quilt.   This quilt is big too at about 85" square so doing this all on the home machine really wasn't too bad.  I have a large collection of civil war prints and have made several different quilts with it.  Here is the the full picture of the quilt on the floor.  With the weather we have been having it has been hard to get photos outside.

In the snowball blocks I quilted circle feathers.  Those scared me the most as I am lazy and don't like to mark but could not do them freehand do I had a stencil and I used the blue Dritz pen and drew them in.  There were 24 of those blocks!  Yikes!  I had 8 of them left on a Sunday and the feather borders and that took me all day!  I started at 7:30 am and finally finished at 4 pm.  I took a couple of breaks but that was a lot Free Motion!

Each of the pieced blocks were all quilted differently as well but used the same thread through out the whole quilt except for the border I used brown and the one pieced border it is red I used red thread.  I wanted the quilting to blend.  Some of them I thought they would stick out but when you look at it in a whole you can not see it.  I used Aurfil thread 50wt on all  of it.  I love that thread!

I liked the corners - thought those turned out pretty.  The brown borders had feathers that I did freehand and I love doing those.  I was happy on how they turned out.  I just thought it was really hard to see the quilting from the front so the picture of the feathers is from the back.

You can see some of the quilting on this one.  A couple of things that I learned along the way.

You really can't see your mistakes once you are done.  When you are quilting it and your nose is 4 inches from the quilt, I see every stitch that I don't like.  You wash it and hold it up or even in your lap I have no idea where they are.

I had read somewhere to slow down the speed of your machine.  So I did that.  I find that is really helpful.  I had less of those pulls when I started and stopped the machine.  I felt I had a lot more control.

I really like Free Motioning in one area and then moving on opposed to an all over.  I like knowing I won't get stuck in a corner or cross over a line when I shouldn't.

I also liked breaking it up into sections and ticking each one off.  Sunday was the exception, normally, I don't work on FMQ for more than a few hours.  I gave myself a self imposed deadline so it was a lot at the end but it did get done!

It is done and washed and am really glad, it turned out very snuggly.  My husband loves it.  He is definitely not a bright, modern kinda of guy.  So this is perfect for him and looks great on the brown leather recliner that he claims as his own.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hope you get some sewing time! Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts and Whoo Whoo Fridays!

This is a finish from the Q1 Finish Along and linking up to She Can Quilt.

A finish - Yeah

I was so happy that I was able to get another quilt off the to do list and on the done list.  On my sew day I quick finished up the last row of quilting I had to do at home since I have to FMQ on my sewing table where my machine is set in.  Then I put the binding on at sew day and ended up having enough of the black lines from the Summerville line.  I was worried because at first I could not find the fabric and I had used some of it in another quilt and my LQS no longer had that one color left.  But I kept looking in the piles of fabric and you never know what you will find!

I started this quilt back in August.  I had bought a layer cake and was going to do a simple patchwork quilt with 2.5 in squares and then I had seen over at Camille Roskelley site where she sashed the blocks in white. So that is exactly how I did mine.  I also wanted to try out the dogwood quilting design from Oh Fransson as well.  I loved doing this design and I loved the outcome on the quilt.

Here is a picture of the back I love the effect of this quilting.  I even had messed the line up on a few but even I could not see them with a quick glance and overall still looks good to me!  Love it!  I just need to throw it in the wash next.

This quilt was immediately taken over by my youngest and it was tested by using it for a nap.  It worked!  My poor husband wants to know why DS#2 gets every quilt I make?!

So happy to be done with Quilt #2 on my list of Quilt Goals for the Finish Along!

Linking up at Crazy Mom Quilts Finish Friday and WhoopWhoop Friday.

Here is to another productive week of sewing!

This was a finish from the Q1 Goals and am linking up to She Can Quilt.

Finish it up Friday

I did finally make a small finish last night.  I have wanted to make 2 binder covers for my quilt groups I go to at my LQS.  I did get one of the two done.  I had this fabric selected and in a nice stack since last year.  I still like it but need to get it made before I forgot what I wanted to do.

I should have taken a photo of the back too. I just did string piecing in the back.

Here are the other things that were done in January and linking up at Lily's Quilts for Fresh Sew day.

1.  Some scrap vomit blocks
2.  Easy Street Block A's
3.  Finished Wiggly Whimsy read about it here.
4. Summerville - waiting to be quilted.

What I need to do is figure out the mosaics.  I start but somehow something doesn't work for me and I just don't take the time to stay after it.  Technical difficulties are not my strong point.  I thought I had it but just no go.

I need to get going on some more finishes for Quarter one too.  I think I am going to try A Lovely Year of Finishes and Tracy Jae, just three.  So we will see how that goes.

Linking up at Crazy Mom Friday Finishes, Fresh Sewing Day and Small Blog Meet.  What a great way to see what everyone is working on so go check them out.

Happy Sewing!

Friday Finishes

I finished the t-shirt quilt for my oldest son.  I had planned on making him one for a long time so when he cleaned out his room when he was leaving for college I stacked all those t-shirts up and there they sat. He is in his junior year at college and thought I better get this done. So I cut and interfaced a lot of shirts!  I had over 30 and used most of them. 

He made sure all of the ones he wanted were in it and that each year of High School was represented in the quilt.  You will notice that there are clumps of color together.  Well, I had laid this one out distributing the color asked him what he thought and rearranging he went. The shirts front and backs had to be next to each other.  So I put it together as requested. 

I thought I would send it out to have it long armed but really didn't want to spend the money so I decided I would quilt it.  I found the design after spending some time over at Leah Day's Blog.  Lots of ideas and videos of how to do it.  I also thought tackling this one block by one block would be helpful.  I liked the way it turned out.  Still need to work on staying on the same stitching line and lining up my stitches when I start and stop.  They always seems to jar off. But you I am getting better each time I do it and once you stand back and look at it.  it looks pretty darn good!

Recently, I had just finished a quilt for our bed at our cottage.  The room has all paneling (hate it) so this definitely will brighten the room up.  I started it back in March at a retreat.  The pattern was from Moda Bake Shop and was call Ruby, Pearl, and Opal Quilt.  I had this quilted at my LQS.  I loved the daisy like flower.  I put Kona butter on the back.  I had picket up a layer cake of Terrain by Kate Spain and then a few pieces of what I could find along with some Good Fortune as well.  When I decided I wanted it bigger I added the solids in as well.  I am not real good an keeping fabric colors or names of what I use.  If I like it I buy it and use it. I love the bright colors in this one for sure. 

Let's hope I can get another quilt finished this weekend!  I have linked up for the first time at both places!
Can I get a Whoop-Whoop?
Finish it up Fridays