Saturday, April 26, 2014

First "real" attempt.

I made my first real attempt at custom work on my long arm. 
 
I have done straight line, wavy line stitching and meandering, but this is the first one like this.
 
 
Not perfect, but passable.
 
It's my daughter's HST quilt that she said to practice on. 
 
I hope she likes it. 
 
 
Next, I am loading a customer quilt (my sister-in-law's) that I will be doing a "ribbons and roses" panto on.  It's a queen-sized quilt, 9-patch with alternating plain blocks.  Since that quilt is done in Robyn Pandolph fabrics, I just felt that ribbons and roses fit perfectly.
 
Stay tuned.
 


Friday, April 25, 2014

Still prepping....

Getting some things together for the next big quilt retreat.
 
 
I had previously shown these three Hearts and Hands star blocks without their centers.
 
Since then I have cut out all the strips that I will need to make another 50 of these star blocks.
 
Next step was to get the centers cut out and get a running stitch done so that I could gather the circles over the template.
 
 
Here's my stack of circles (53). They kind of remind me of cupcake papers.
 
 
Now I have all 53 centers gathered up, pressed and ready to applique to the star blocks that will be made at retreat.  Now I have no excuses not to get going on this quilt.  These blocks may be time consuming, but I am well on my way. 
 
Now to come up with a couple other projects for retreat.  That means I have to dig into the UFO pile and see what is next.  I should probably just do eenie, meenie, minee, moe. 
 
 


Sunday, April 20, 2014

Happy Easter Everyone!

We had a lovely brunch here today with a couple different frittatas, cheesy potatoes, fruit, monkey bread, bacon and best of all, the whole family. 
 
Here's a picture of the little guy we heard about last Easter.  We were told he would arrive in just a few months and here he is six months old already.
 
 
He's looking pretty dapper here. 
 
On the quilty front, I had worked on these three Hearts and Hands blocks at my mini group retreat.
 
 
These three still need their centers, but knowing that I had a total of 53 of these to make and to help me keep on track with getting this quilt completed I decided to pair up fabrics  for ALL 53 of them.
 
 
I now have all the pieces cut out  (18 of each color in 1 3/4" x 3") and bagged up to go to my next retreat.  No more excuses. I am going to make a major dent in this quilt.  
 
Earlier this weekend, my girlfriends and I went on a little mini shop hop of our own. We discovered a new to us quilt shop in Marine City, MI called Quilting Dreams and there I bought the backing and binding for my ABC quilt (which are now pieced).  So that quilt is now ready for the long arm.
 
I just love it when my motivation sticks around for awhile
 
Well, it's been a long day.  I hope you all had an enjoyable day with family and/or friends. 
 
Now it's time to get back to quilting.  So, happy quilting. 
 
 
 
 
 


Saturday, April 12, 2014

Momentum is still at work.....

My little mini retreat last weekend got me motivated and the momentum is still at work.
 
I finished the baby chevron, machine quilted it and put the binding on....just needs a label.
 
Took this off the long arm Thursday.
 
 
I quilted it with "angel wings"
 
Friday night I got the binding on and hand stitched it down. 
 
 
Love my big dot backing. 
 
 
Then today, I got the ABC quilt top put together.
 
 
I have had these two fabrics (the red and the alphabet) in my stash for a good 5-6 years.  The red is called Little Apples by Aneela Hoey for Moda.  Can't wait to get this one on the long arm.  I have in mind what I would like to get for a backing, but I will have to see if I can find it.  So you will be seeing this one again soon, I hope. 
 
Also, today I cut up yardage (and I mean YARDAGE)  of a bright pink and orange "hibiscus" batik that will be the backing for my Hawaiian challenge quilt.  This quilt should be  third in line on the waiting list for the  long arm.  I can't wait to share this one with you. 
 
That's it for now.  Hope to keep this momentum up for awhile.  There are lots of projects in my sewing room calling my name. 
 
Happy quilting!
 
 
 


Sunday, April 6, 2014

What? It's been over a month?

Where oh where does  the time go?
 
My last post was in February.  I have been busy sewing, but when you are working on a challenge quilt and you can't share it, it doesn't leave you with much to share.
 
I have plenty to share today though.  I went on a mini retreat with my friends and we had our own little sewing marathon and show and tell. 
 
 
Nancy has been working on a scrappy gray flannel Trips Around the World.
 
 
She, also, threw this beautiful shabby chic quilt top together this weekend.
 
 
She is still plugging away at her courthouse steps.
 
Now as for Sharon....she, too, is working on courthouse steps made from shirts.
 
 
She was, also, putting on the binding on a Bonnie Hunter quilt that she made (sorry, I don't know the name of the quilt. (Sharon let me know that it is called Blue Skies)
 
 
She, too, made a Trips Around the World quilt.  Hers is from salvaged shirts.
 
 
As for me....I worked on a few odds and ends that have been sitting around for some time.
 
 
This is a Ricky Tims "convergence" quilt.  Not one of his usual ones, but it was shown to us at the retreat that I went to last year.  This yard of fabric is sliced up and sewn right back together and then sliced the other way and only moved over one 2" square one way or the other.  My plan is to machine quilt a landscape or something like that on it. 
 
 
I got all these blocks cut out.  It is a quilt that Nancy did a few years ago and I had all the fabrics in my cupboard. Since I am trying to get a few things off my "list", I thought this would be a good one to get sewn together and finished.
 
 
I then pulled out my "Hearts and Hands" and got these three blocks to this point.  I just need to pick out a center circle and get that stitched on and then these will be done.  I am nearing the halfway point of this quilt. 
 
I, also, thought I was going to get started on a hunched back cat Halloween quilt (or at least a block or two ) this weekend, but I forgot my black fabrics.  I did get a few cats traced out on freezer paper, so I will be ready to get going on that as soon as time allows. 
 
Anyways, it was good to get together with friends this weekend.  I think we chatted more than we quilted, but that's ok.  I feel like my mojo is back as far as getting to other things now.  The challenge quilt top is done and I have a baby quilt top done.  I just need to get these quilted.  When I do and when I can, I will share them with you. 
 
Hope to be back soon with more to share.
 
 
 
 
 


Michigan quilters, take note

  Come see us at our first Quilter's to Quilter's sale.   Don't know what that is?  Well, it will be 28 quilters/vendors selling...