Looking forward to the weekend

So happy to have a day off tomorrow!  Going to enjoy lots of sewing time this weekend and a lunch date with the college kid!

 In preparation for the weekend I did a lot of organizing this week.  I was able to finish quilting my challenge quilt and prepped the binding.  Now to just stitch it down!  Then some photos.  I will make the deadline no problem!

I finally found a place for all the Kona packs I have been collecting through Kona Club at my LQS.  Yes, I have been using them in my Tula City Sampler but I think I need to make a lot more with this bunch of fabric!  I love that neutral bundle too!

Then I received happy mail this week and the fussy cut squares arrived.  Aren't they cute?  Now I will need to make more and see what I may do with them.

Hopefully I will get lots done this weekend.  Only bummer is I got a cold this week.  I rarely get sick and my throat is hurting and I just want to curl up and nap!

I am linking up to Thursday Threads and Needle and Thread Thursday.  They always have great stuff going on over there.

Busy Week

I have been busy this week working on my challenge quilt.  I found my inspiration from a pin on Pinterest on the blog the Girl Who Quilts. I changed the size and of course the colors since my Clementine needed to be 25% of the quilt. 

Cutting was done. That was pretty easy and finally tried out my new ruler as well.  Not really new anymore since I bought it in spring and first time I used it.

Then did some work on the design wall and started piecing.  I must admit they did not stay long on the design wall I went to chain piecing pretty quickly.

Had to stop here since I needed another piece of the Clementine background for the top part of the quilt. 

Which I did get yesterday.  Hopefully tonight I will put that last piece on and start on the back.  I am thinking that I will quilt it with straight lines following the triangles so it will make a plaid effect on the solid.  Not sure yet.  Suggestions?

While at the quilt store I took my stack of Tula Pink City Sampler Blocks.  That deadline to get the pin and tshirt is the 15th.  I was only able to get 46 done.  I will get the pin.  Once I knew there is just no way for me to do that I just moved on. Here is my pretty very colorful stack!

I also did a little baking last week.  Two out of my three things turned out yummy.  

The pumpkin bread was delicious.  The banana oatmeal breakfast muffins good, just not my favorite.  I tried a new bar recipe - that was a complete flop.  Out to the birds those went!

I have to share my quote on my daily calendar as well.  "To live a creative life we must loose our fear of being wrong."  Joseph Chilton Pearce.  I thought that was very fitting today with my struggles to commit to a pattern/design for my challenge quilt.  

Enjoy the rest of your week.  Linking up to Thursday Threads and NTT.  Thanks for stopping by!

 

Lovely Month of Finishes - Goal

I thought since my list for the month of August went well I should really join the fun over at either Fiber of all Sorts and/or Sew Bittersweet Designs for Lovely Month of Finishes.  A little added incentive to stay on track.

My goal for the month is the quilt for MMQG Challenge.  The challenge is to use the shot cotton that I picked in 25% of your project. Three categories to select from and I am going with a quilt.  I selected the rest of my fabric and finally decided on the pattern.  Hopefully it all comes together with the colors.  The quilt will have plenty of quilting space so I need to get this one done since the quilting will probably take more time than the piecing.

My color was Clementine(the one on the bottom). It looks brighter on this photo than it really is in person.  I love orange but this one was hard for me since my stash fabrics really didn't worked well with it(or that is what I tell myself).  So I HAD to go shopping!  That was not too difficult and  I really like the fabrics I bought to go with it.  The quilt has triangles and I have not pieced that shape yet.  I wanted to try something new.  Any tips otherwise send some luck my way.

Now I just need to get cutting on this one!

September WIP List

Since my list for last month served me well.  I am going to go ahead and do it for this month to keep myself on track. Here is what I have been working on this week.  More Tula Blocks.

I did Section 3 blocks 36-46 but somehow missed no 43.  I think I need to put these aside for now and start working on my challenge quilt.

So here are the rest of my goals for September:


1.  MMQG challenge quilt

• Pick fabric and pattern
  
• Cut and Piece
• Quilt and Bind

2.  2 Moda Club Applique Blocks

3.  3 September Blocks for Moda Club 

4.  Finish the X and + Quilt (This one is Q3 Goal)

• 10 blocks to piece
• Piece top
• Quilt and Bind

5. Tula Pink City Sampler

• Section 3 Triangles 36-55
• Section 4 Stripes    56-71
• Section 5 Squares   72-86
• Section 6 Haiku      87-100

This is a long list but I have several sew days lined up so I have very high hopes this month!  

I am linking up to WIP Wednesday and Thursday Threads and Needle and Thread Thursday.  Now I will have to see what everyone else has been up to.

Fresh Sewing Day

A little behind with the Fresh Sewing Day link up.  We were out of town for the weekend as this was our last summer weekend for us before the kids started school today.  I am always sad when they have to go back.  I love summer break!  But I do like the routine that comes with school year.

So let's see what happened in August.

1.  Big finish was the Heart Quilt.  More here on that one.
2.  Blocks for Moda Friendship Blocks for my Moda Club
3.  I spy blocks
4.  Tula Blocks
5.  A bee block.

Not too bad for the month.  Lots of small pieces and blocks.  The heart quilt was a lot of quilting but fun to do.

Head over to Lily's Quilt for the Fresh Day link up and see what others have been working on in August.

Knocking things off my List

Well August is almost gone, so hard to believe and my kids will be back in school day after Labor Day.  Hopefully, I will get a little more sewing time in on the weekends again.

My to do list for August has served me well with keeping me on task for getting some things checked off and done.  (that's the best part of making a list).

I finished my Heart Wedding Quilt.  Check out the full post if you would like more details.  It has been wrapped and delivered.  I love it!

I have made all 12 of the Fussy Cut Square Blocks.  These are too cute and really fun to make.  I will be sending them off at the end of this week.

I was also able to get the 6 blocks for section 2 in the Tula Pink City Sampler.  This definitely has not been easy for me to stay up to date with but hoping that I can get at least to the half way mark in September.

Here are the blocks 1-35.  This is a lot of color and a little blurry!

Here is my list to finish up this week and I will be making a new list for September as well.
My August to do List

1.  Quilt and Bind - the Heart Wedding Quilt
2.  Finish Section 1 of City Sampler Tula Blocks
3.  Cut and Piece section 2 of City Sampler Tula Blocks-5 to go
4.  MMQG Block for Barb- Improv-hopefully tonight
5.  MMQG Block for Peggy
6. 3 August Moda Blocks
7.  2 Missing Moda Blocks
8.  Fussy Cut Square - Flickr Swap

I am linking up to WIP over at Freshly Pieced, Thursdays Threads, and Needle and Thread Thursday.

Happy Sewing!

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!