Manic Monday...

This past week I didn't get much sewing done.  I planned to work on my Kaleidoscope QAL but when I went to get it, I couldn't find it anywhere.  That would mean it is time to clean and organize some more.  I can't believe I have lost a UFO!!

I finished ironing on the letters for the Christmas pillowcases I am making for my nieces, nephews and cousins here in the area (11).  Now I just need to do the hand stitching around the first letter of each name.  I don't have enough time to stitch around all the letters.  Good excuse to watch some movies. 

The wedding quilt kind of came to a stand still, and the wedding is this weekend.  Needless to say that will be another late project.  I need to get it back into my current projects and get it off no later then the first of the year.

I did get my charms off for the Huge Color Wheel Charm Swap.  Some angels had to fill in a few spots and so they should come back the end of the week.  I am planning to make the Warm/Cool quilt  over at In Color Order.  I have really liked this quilt but not enough scraps to make, now I will have a good start, only need to cut a few FQ's to make enough charms for the HST's.

Along with the pillowcases I plan to work on a old UFO.  Colorbrick, a QAL from Stitched in Color.  I started two of these a long time ago and decided to pull one out and finish it up.  One change i made to the pattern is I cheated and used a white Jelly Roll instead of cutting yardage.  So the sashing is a little bit bigger then the pattern dictated. 

So this week I intend to work on pillowcases and my Black, White and Red Colorbrick UFO. 

Manic Monday....

I didn't get to all that I wanted this past week.  The thought was with having the kids home for Thanksgiving break, I would get some quality sewing time.  Okay, I forgot what a teenager and a two year old can be like. 

Here is my list from last week.....

*Finish 3 blocks from my 4 BOM's    Only 1 block done.
*Finish cutting sashing for wedding present 
*Sew down petals on Rainbow Fizz quilt top
*Cut remaining 2 yds of fabric for swap
*Finish sewing rows for Spastic quilt top     Finished!!

In addition I spent about 30 mins. cleaning.  This needs to be done on a more regular basis.

This coming week...

*Work on wedding quilt
*Cut swap charms - due this week!
*Pillow cases for Christmas
*Rainbow Fizz
*More cleaning/organizing

This week is turning out to be pretty busy, hopefully this list will help me to prioritize my time.

Manic Monday List......

With my huge UFO list on my mind, I am really trying to cut it down to something more managable.  I like to start new projects, so I need to finish some.  This week I intend to work on the following:

*Finish 3 blocks from my 4 BOM's
*Finish cutting sashing for wedding present
*Sew down petals on Rainbow Fizz quilt top
*Cut remaining 2 yds of fabric for swap
*Finish sewing rows for Spastic quilt top

These may not get done for Friday Finish, but hopefully I will get them done before next week's list gets created.

Friday Finish....

This week I have 3 finishes and 1 from last week.  I couldn't get my camera to work.  The first finish is a baby quilt I had in the works for a while now. 

Before we left on our cruise, I made a UFO list, man was that a scary thing.  26!!!!  Three of them are BOM.  So my other finishes are blocks from two out of the three. 

I have not worked with Batiks before and this BOM is from a local quilt store and all the blocks are different Batiks.  I am trying to learn to like them.

These other two blocks are from the HST BOM from In Color Order.  The print fabric is from Connecting Threads Merry Mini's line from last year. ( A year ago when I started reading Amanda Jean's blog, I checked out the thread she raved about and she was right, their thread and fabric is great.)

Making my huge list of UFO's has made me want to get that list shortened so I can start some new projects.  Who am I kidding, I am sure I will start something new. 

Finished!.....

Tonight I finally finished the Mario quilt I have been making for my 13 year old.  I finished the top back in July while he was at scout camp but did not get the quilting done until a couple weeks ago.  I wanted to try machine sewing the binding.  I used fleece for the backing and was a little unsure how hand stitching the binding down would go.  This may be my last time.  I did not like the results.  I left it on because I didn't want to take out all those stitches.  It felt good to mark it off my ever growning WIP list. 

My next post will have a picture of me working on my Hexy flowers somewhere out at sea!!  My sister has been kind enough to come and stay with our kids while we celebrate our 15th anniversary on a cruise.  I thought I would be packed and ready to go by now, but I am also making sure that the kids will have everything they need for the next week.  I hope I don't get sea sick!!

Friday Finish....it's back!!

I am so excited that FF is back!!  I really need to get some things finshed.

This weeks finish is my very first purse!  In preparation for our upcoming cruise I made this purse to use while being out and about on the ship.  It holds my Kindle and my hand sewing case well, with room to spare. 

The pattern:  Bucket Bag by Keyka Lou Patterns
The fabric:  Chicopee from Denyse Schmidt

The pattern will be much easier the next time.  I was a little confused about some steps with the interfacing, I am sure this is because my sewing is limited to quilting.  I extended the length of the strap and I am so glad I did.  Now I am ready to tackle another purse and feel the urge for some non quilting sewing.  Patterns don't make themselves!!

Rainbow Fizz...

Friday evening after I put the little one to bed, I determined to finish my Soda Pop QAL top.  I have been wantin to make a rainbow colored quilt for quite a while and when this QAL came up I new it was time.  Earlier this year I ordered a FQ set of micro dots from Connecting Threads,  so along with some white Quilters Candy, also from CT, the vision of Rainbow Fizz came to mind.  I have a hard time naming my quilts, but this time following the Flickr! group I knew that I had the perfect name. 

When I first saw the pattern in the Fat Quarterly book, I never thought I could make this pattern.  It actually was a lot of fun and a definate remake.  Next time I will follow the pattern with the background being colorful and the petals all the same.  I think cutting out the petals all the same will save a lot of time.  Now I need to sew the petals down and the top will truely be done.  It came out much larger then I had thought it would, almost a queen size.

Today for my b-day I woke up to roses, cards and breakfast.

Last night my b-day dinner was not what we had planned, but with a 2-year old things don't always go as planned.  Even getting my present didn't go as planned.  My camera is starting to get flaky and we found one at Costco that I really like.  Same 2-year old "misplaced" my wallet so no Costco card.  Hubby has a Sam's Club card so we tried there, but they don't have the same one.  After church today we all will be hunting down my wallet. 

Friday update..

The Mario quilt pictured in my last post is getting quilted.   I am quilting it the same way I did Zoe's b-day quilt.  (Don't have a picture to upload!)  Working with a large quilt is hard on my shoulders and back.  I adjust my chair but it dosn't work for long. 

I am cutting out the squares for the Mod Pop QAL .  I am using some FQ's in yellow and grey I purchased from Hobby Lobby. 

"Rainbow Fizz" is coming along, slowly.  I finally have all the row pieced together and I am working on getting them sewn together, then sewn into a top.  Most of the petals are on, so I can sew them down when the top is all together.  I need to take some pictures to post my progress. 

In about 7 weeks hubby and I are going away for our 15th anniversary!!  My sister is coming to stay with the kiddos so they don't miss school.  Some of the prep for the trip has been getting my laptop "cleaned" and "tuned-up".  I am trying to teach myself digital scrapbooking.  All of the crafting that I do has been self-taught, but I may have bit off more then I can handle when it comes to technology.  Up until the littlest kiddo was born, I was an avid scrapbooker.  She gets into everything!!  So I think it is time to go digital.  I am also tired of the mess from traditional scrapping.  My cousin has a digital scrapbooking blog that I have stalked for a time.  I love her layouts and love that she is current and up to date with her scrapping.  Something I have not been able to say for over 10 years!!

Friday Finish.....

It has been a long time since I posted a FF.  Next week is my son's 13th b-day and I am so excited for this to be done.  I quickly pressed the last seam and ran outside with my phone (Jacob has my camera at scout camp.) to snap some pics before the rain comes. 

Now just to quilt and bind.  I am going to back it with some camo fleece that he picked out for another project that was forgotten.  This should make it warm and soft, plus its out of my stash. 

Soda-Pop QAL

One of the many projects that I have going right now is my Rainbow Fizz quilt for the Soda-Pop QAL.  I did finish Zoe's b-day quilt on time!! and now I am working to finish Jacob's b-day quilt.  I am really close to being finshed with the top.  This week is prime time to work on it, he is away at Scout camp.  I would have it finished by now but I had to put on a few petals to my Rainbow Fizz to see if what I had in my mind was coming out in the fabric. 

I have 5 more rows of background sewn together, they just need to be ironed and then attached. 

The sun is really bright on the white backgound so I took this picture in the shade to hopefully see the color changing better.  I still have to add the half petals on the top and along the sides.  I cut off strips from each FQ first to make the binding.  I love scrappy pieced bindings.  This has been really fun to work on.  I plan on making another, but with the background scrappy and the petals all the same.  Doing scrappy petals takes more time and my time needs to be finishing Mario for Jacob's b-day next week!!!

Project Update......

Today I needed to remind myself of the progress I am making on my current projects.  Zoe's b-day was yesterday and I had been focusing a lot of time on her quilt to have it done.  I almost made it.  I only need to finsih about a 1/3 of the binding done.  I am planning on taking that to my quilt group meeting this coming week for show and tell. 

Actively working on:
     *  Jacob's b-day quilt-  All rows are assembled, need to start sewing rows together.
     *  Soda Pop QAL-  Cutting out my background and sewing them into rows.
     *  New Wave Jungle-  finish binding, and mail to Heidi.  (Her baby won't be a baby if I don't hurry.)
   
Coming up next:
     *  Double Sliced Trade Winds-  Need to sew rows together.  (Still thinking about hand quilting.)
     *  Spastic Camping quilt-  2 more rows to assemble then sew the rows together. 

Need to quilt:
     *  Brenda's b-day quilt-  outlining
     *  Newell's b-day quilt-  FM  ( This will be my first! I am a little scared.)

Need to baste:  4 tops

Need to move to Coming up next:
     * Cody's Superman Christmas queen quilt- I would like to have it done by Christmas.
     *  Mom's b-day quilt from 2 years ago.  She has moved to Utah and is need of something warm since leaving Las Vegas.

Thinking about:
     *  Kaleidescope quilt- partly cut out.
     *  Finishing my 2 Colorbrick quilts  ( I am over 3/4 done on these, just do it!!)
     *  Tetris QAL-  only thinking about.  Great stash quilt.
     *  Starting a QAYG-  like this idea and need to use what I have.  If I do random, my scraps will work.

This is a long list and I don't even have all my WIP's listed!!  I really want to get my stash cleared out and make quilts from what I have.  (Plus take this time to pay down my PayPal balance.)  I am excited about clearing out my stash to be able to buy up some more!! 

New projects.....

Cruising around blogland I have come across a couple new projects.  Like I need more projects!!  The first one I came across actually was a quilt I wanted to give a try but was a little scared to try it on my own.  Orange Soda Pop from the Fat Quarterly book.  Working along with others seems to be more realistic to me. 

Rainbow Fizz will have a white background and a mixture of bright colored FQ's with micro dots being the "pop".  I really hope that the quilt will come out the same way I see it in my head.

The second new project I found today.  Over at Happy Quilting, Melissa is hosting a Tetris QAL.  Jacob's quilt (pixilized Mario) is almost done and I thought a Tetris quilt would be fun and easy to make.  I am not sure if it will go to him or if I will keep it.  After I cut all the 5" squares for the Soda Pop quilt and Tetris quilt I may need to work on a different shape and size for a while.

Last weekend we went camping.  It was wonderful to get out of the heat and noise of the city and spend some time in the mountains.  Within an hour we were up with the trees and the wonderful fresh smell in the mountains.  I have had to learn to concentrate on these types of trips,  I get car sick really easy on those curvy mountian roads.  We all enjoyed the time together.  One thing we were not prepared for was bedding.  Just after our trip I found some fabric that would be great for outside use.  With the colors on a darker side the dirt won't show up too easy. 

Some of these pieces were already cut into 5" squares and I added the batiks I ordered in 10" squares from Connecting Threads.  All the pieces were mixed up and as I sew the blocks together I just reach in the box were I have them together and grab one.  I have 3 strips sewn together and I think there will be enough for 11 more strips.  These batiks are wonderful to work with.  I have tried some from my LQS and have had a hard time working with them.  If I work with batiks again I will be ordereing them from Connecting Threads!

 

Personal Retreat.....

A couple weeks ago my hubby said that I needed a break.  So I went to a hotel and spent some me time.  It was geat!  I am thinking of making this a annual thing.  I had a kitchenette so I never had to leave. 

I made my first pin cushion, a Log Cabin pattern:

In all honesty, I stuffed and closed the pin cushion at home.  I didn't bring any filler with me.

I finished Zoe's b-day quilt top.

(I can't get this picture to rotate!)

The fabric came from a FQ bundle of Delight from Riley Blake.  The pattern came from the blog In Color Order.   The tutorial was really easy to follow along.  I am going to machine quilt it with a variagated threat from King Tut.  I just need to get the batting out and the backing to take up to the church to baste.  I have no easy way of basting it here at home.

The only other project I worked on was Jacob's b-day quilt.  I didn't take any pictures yet.  The quilt is made up of 4 1/2" squares.  18 rows by 22 rows.  I have 3 rows to finish piecing then I can start sewing the rows together.  I will have to make sure he isn't around when I take pictures, now that school is out that is harder. 

So far the summer break is going well.  Jacob has swimming lessons for a couple more weeks and Zoe starts gymnastics about the time Jacob is done.  Hopefully we can figure out a trip to Utah somewhere in there along with some camping.

I have more pictures but I will save those for another post.



Almost Friday!

I need to spend some time tonight and finish the baby quilt I am working on so I have something for Crazy Mom Quilts Friday Finish.  I only have one more row to add then the borders, then the top will be done. 
Another baby quilt I am working on needs to moved to the top of my list.  I started this when my friend Heidi found out she was having a boy.  The due date is in April, but when I spoke to her last she is more then likely having him in a couple weeks.

I would like to make 3 more Swoon blocks.  Red, orange and green solids with the robot print.  I think 1 block with a border would be just too small. 

Last year I started on a quilt for my sister who had gastric-bypass and lost a ton of weight.  With all her insulation now gone she is cold a lot of the time so I wanted to make her a quilt to have around to just throw on when she is doing homework or watching her favorite show NCIS.



I used FQ's and White and Apricot for the solids from Connecting Threads.  I am echoing quilting with Apricot thread also from Connecting Threads.  Sad to say Apricot is no longer available. 

The quilting is half done then I just need to make the binding from the scraps.  Brenda's b-day is in May, so maybe it will be early this year.

My Curves Class went really well.  Once I knew how to get the curve without puckering, my blocks came together really fast.  I lost my zeal to finish when I realized that Batiks were not my thing.  The BOM I am doing with my LQS is in Batiks, but they are coming together okay.  Maybe the really bright colors from my curves class were the problem.

I hope to post and link up my finish in the morning.

Curvy class......

This afternoon I finished cutting my beautiful batiks for a curvy class on Thursday at my LQS.

The picture is not very good I used my cell phone.  I have been wanting to make something with the colors of the rainbow.  When I went to pick up my material list I thought it was the time to use those colors.  I have not used batiks very much, this will be my second, but I was told that the stiffer fabric would be good with learning curves.



I cut a few extra for good measure, or learning curve.  This is for a wall hanging so I am hoping to finish quickly and post a finshed picture for next weeks Finish it Friday.

I decided on my design for the Free-Motion Quilt Project.  I need to redraw the design and put it up out of little hands.  I will be using machine applique, I just need to decide if I will use fusable or starch. 

A partial list of projects for 2012 has been added.  If I have it here, I will be more accountable to get these things done.

Have a Terrific Tuesday!!

Free-Motion Quilt Project......

Today the first post in the Focus on Free-Motion Quilting from the Sew Inspired blog popped up.  I have to say that after reading Vicki's post I am motivated and need to make the time to work on my free-motion quilting.  Almost a year ago I participated in a class at a LQS and fell in love.  Free-motion quilting is fun and addictive.  Sad to say I have not made the time to practice since that class and FMQ does take practice.

Over the next couple days I need to plan a project for the FFMQ course.  I am thinking of a wall hanging or a mini-quilt.  I want to plan a project that I can finish by the end of the month.  Maybe something to hang in my new sewing area!! 

Christmas Break ( I refuse to be PC and call it Winter Break! ) offically is over tomorrow.  These few weeks seemed to have flown by, but the kids are ready to go back.  They are starting to get bored and lazy.  Jacob ( 7th grade ) has some new classes this quarter and he is looking forward to having Science instead of Social Studies.  He did good in SS but he enjoys Science.  Zoe ( 3rd grade ) is looking forward to Girl Scouts.  Cookie selling starts at the end of the month and she wants to earn some patches this year.  Last year it was hard to get out to sell with Adena being 4 months old and dad away for work. 

Hopefully I can get some pictures this week on the few projects I am working on at the same time.  Maybe even some work I plan to finish Friday night when I go to Girls Night Out at my LQS.  I have two baby boy quilts that I hope to finish.  I am also working on my list of things I want to focus on for 2012.  I need to write them down so I will be accountable.

This is my husbands quilt and he wants me to FMQ this one, I am thinking stars.  I have had the top done for several months and even basted for months.  I am a little scared of doing FMQ for the first time, so Vicki's course is encouragement for me.