Mocha-chica

My latest baby quilt is complete. This is a commission quilt where I was given free reign - the buyer wanted something in pinks and browns. I was happy to oblige.

Commission Quilts

I have three commission quilts to work on. Two are baby quilts which I'm excited about. Both are for girls and since I rarely make girlie quilts, they will be extra fun. Even more exciting, the buyer has pretty much given me free reign. She requested the first in pinks and browns, the second with flowers. The pattern and fabric are up to me. How lucky am I to get paid to do what I love doing?!

My deadline for the pink and brown quilt is December 15. A little lofty considering its December and I haven't decorated the tree, put up the lights, finish shopping, do Christmas cards and attend several holiday gatherings. But I'm so in love with the fabric and pattern, it shouldn't be a problem to push myself to get this finished.

Here's a sneak peek. I've already given it the name Mochachica.

The Redwing quilt

I finished quilting the Redwing quilt, just in time for my MIL to attach the binding and finish it up for the baby shower she attended in Michigan.

I'm really starting to love the zig zag pattern. In fact, I considered it for my next baby quilt commission. But ultimately, I decided to try something new. It's good to push yourself, right? I should have pictures of a few blocks posted soon!

J and A's quilt tops

Remember how I said I was teaching the daughters of a friend how to quilt? I finally got their tops put together! They look pretty good, I think. Our next step is to pick out fabric for the back but since I'd like them to choose, I'll have to wait until the next time we can get together. That's okay though because I have lots of projects in the queue!

Go Redwings!

The mother-in-law and I have been working on a baby quilt for a family member. She has requested "Redwing Red" items. (As in the Detroit Redwings...)

It's a five hour drive to the baby shower this weekend and MIL might still be working on the binding during the car ride. I won't be attending the shower so I don't know if I'll have a final picture to post.

Excuses, excuses...

Why haven't I been doing much quilting lately, you ask? Well, I'm sorta trying my hand at crocheting. Some women I work with crochet on Thursday's and asked if I'd be interested. It sounded like a good idea. I need something to do while I'm waiting to pick up the kids from practice/games/school/etc.

(I have my iPhone which would be sufficient. But I like the idea of doing something PRODUCTIVE with my time.)

So here's the start of my first project.


I'm pretty terrible. And I refused the crochet ladies' suggestion of using thicker, solid yarn. I tried plan gray and it was so BORING. So I bought this skein thinking I'd make a scarf. If you crochet you're laughing at me right now because you know that one small skein isn't enough for a scarf. And the fact that I chose a hairy wool instead of thicker cotton. Yet I'm still plugging away. Because the love the colors. They're so pret-ty! Whether I can make something useful is questionable. Time will tell.

Elephunk

Things are progressing nicely with the Redwing Red baby quilt. My mother-in-law has put the top together, added borders, and passed it on to me to layer and quilt it. I'll be starting that project this week and will post photos soon. In the meantime, I've been planning my next baby quilt. This one is for my good friend and extremely talented friend, Julie. She just found out her little bambino is a boy and she's decided to do the nursery in blues and browns. She's thinking elephants for a theme and I found this fabulous fabric online. It's our inspiration - both for the quilt I'm creating and the decor she's choosing for the nursery.

Finally! A Finish...

The Purdue quilt is finally finished. Just in time to take it's place with all the other silent auction items at the fundraising event. I did a pieced backing with zig zag quilting.

In the spirit of the quilt, I decided to take it's picture on campus.

Since I'll never see it again, I made sure to get proper pictures. I'm getting better about documenting my work.

I had enjoyed making this quilt, especially because of AmandaJean's easy tutorial. I'm ready to start my next one!

Fabric love

I don't know what I'm going to do with these beauties but I'm anxious to cut into them. Alas, it will be awhile. I have corn hole bags to make (by tomorrow!), I need to finish the Purdue zig zag quilt (by Thursday at the absolute latest!), and my MIL and I have started a "Redwing red" baby quilt (must be completed by November 20). Maybe I should join Jacquie's Joy in the New Year Challenge.

Starting them early.... part 2

I mentioned that I was helping two youngin's learn to quilt. Friday was fall break so the kiddos spent the afternoon with me. I wasn't quite sure how to go about teaching them. I didn't know which tools to allow them to use and what could be dangerous. I opted out of having them use a rotary cutter. I think second and third grade is just too young, especially since I didn't want to end up calling their dad to meet us in the ER. So after retrieving the fabric they picked out, I gave them a template to use to outline rectangles to cut out. They did a few while I used the rotary cutter to do several more. Once they had their pieces all cut , they placed them into groups of four so we could start sewing. Anna wasn't comfortable guiding her fabric through the machine so she worked the peddle while I did took care of the fabric. After about three blocks, she decided to take a permanent break to play outside. I finished her four-patches and moved on to help Julia.



Julia was much more interested in the process. She was able sew together all of her four-patches before getting picked up for the afternoon. I promised to add the background fabric and finish her blocks. Here is the progress:

We have 12 blocks for Julia that are ready to be laid out and sewn together. I'll probably let her lay them out and I'll sew them together. Then we'll layer everything and I think I'll teach her tie it. I've never tied a quilt so we'll be learning together. It's great to see her so excited about this project. Hopefully I've creating the next generation quilter!

Straight Lines

I rarely do any quilting that calls for my walking foot. But I loved the design of my Purdue quilt so much, I wanted to accentuate the zigs and zags. Normally I free motion quilt and can finish a lap size quilt in a few hours.



But this quilt? It's taking FOR-EV-ER. I spend about an hour doing each zig zag. There are 10 total. Doh! But I'm in love with how it's turning it out so it's totally worth it. Here's a sneak peak. I hope to have the binding attached by Monday.

A pinning we will go...

The the back is pieced, the top is layered and the pins are in. I'm actually looking forward to quilting this baby. (Quilting is usually my least favorite part of the process...)

Zigging right along

The Purdue quilt is coming along quite nicely. I've been itching to do a zig zag quilt for some time, using Amanda Jean's technique. No triangles - music to my ears!

I've since added the borders and started piecing the backing. I hope to get the backing put together this week and then move on to layering and quilting. I'm undecided on the quilting pattern but that's often the case. I don't usually decide how to quilt something until its layered.

I completed some other projects this weekend however they weren't quilt related. I made some corn hole bags for the brother-in-law who sells corn hole sets. I also started Seeger's Halloween costume. For someone who is NOT a sewer and doesn't know the first thing about making an article of clothing - seriously, I can barely hem a pair of pants - it's going pretty well. Not perfect, definitely home-made, but at least you can tell what he's supposed to be.

Purdue Style

I'm putting this away...

For this...

Not normally the colors I'd choose for a project. This is being made for a silent auction for cancer research.

Starting them early...

We had several families over to our house the other night and as everyone was chatting and snacking and the kids were off playing, one of the dad's let me know that his daughter had counted all the quilts hanging in my house and she really, really wanted me to make one for her. Of course I was flattered and even more excited about the idea of introducing Julia to the world of quilting.
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Julia is 8. At 8, I could have cared less about something as domestic as quilt making. So I promised Julia I would make her a quilt, but only if she helped me. She was super excited, especially when I told her to start looking through my fabric to pick out her favorites. I was excited too. Until I saw what she picked.
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I'm not sure what to do with this. I'm liking the aqua and lime green but the orange concerns me. (Although I've always thought about an orange and lime green quilt.) And the paw print dog fabric? Not happening.... I'm thinking a coin quilt of some sort but I'm probably going to have to nix some of her fabric choices and add others.
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Did I mention Julia has a younger sister? Anna is 7 and her father let me know that if I make a quilt for Julia, I have to make one for Anna. Here is Anna's fabric.
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Anna gave me a lot more to work with. The pinks and purples will probably dominate this quilt. Can I go all Project Runway on them and only use the fabric I think is best as a designer?

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And of course, Seeger wants to do everything he sees girls do. So now he wants to make a quilt. His fabric choices were crazy. I haven't taken a picture yet and I hesitate to make him anything because his grandma is making him a quilt for Christmas. We'll see how this plays out.

In the meantime, I'd like to start cutting Julia and Anna's fabric choices. If you have any suggestions for what to do with these piles of fabric, please let me know!

Nature's Best quilt contest

I just entered a quilting contest. I submitted my dancing stars quilt - one of my favorites. I love the colors and was so pleased with how it turned it. I'd seen the pattern somewhere but modified it a bit.

I spent more time quilting this top than I've every spent on a quilt. It's very heavily quilting between all the stars, making the big ones pop out.

I love the result but I hated how long it took. It was worth it though. I also love the pieced binding. I put all my scraps together to create it. I think it turned out very well. If you agree, feel free click on the widget above and vote for me. I'm in the small quilts category.

And while you're at it, vote for my pal Christy in the large quilts category. She submitted her fabulous Seven Sisters quilt. She hand pieced and quilted the entire thing. Very impressive!

Making progress

Things are moving along with my Austin inspired quilt. Although I've made blocks to cover about half the anticipated size of the quilt top, I'm only a quarter of the way done in assembling the blocks. See all those three little baggies of fabric? Those all need put together.

After spending most of last year being uninspired with my quilting, I'm definitely making it up for this year. I have so many quilts in the queue - there is no way I'll do them all. And prioritizing everything is becoming a challenge. Maybe I should quit my job and become a full time quilter. Do people ever do that?

Black and White block exchange

After last year's stashbusting contest, the quilting group I participate in decided to organize a black and white block exchange. We were each ask to make two set of 10 blocks. We had from the start of the year until Labor Day to complete the blocks. (We're busy women - don't judge!) Last weekend, we got together to exchange them. Here are a few of my favorites.

It was fun to see what others came up with. Now we have the task of putting our 20 blocks together. I haven't decided how I'm going to do this although I do know I want to use some color.

Surprisingly, there is no deadline for this. Hopefully, I'll have my top put together before the end of the year. (It's all about baby steps, people!!)

And we're off...

After finishing the monstrous Anchor's Away quilt I've been working on all summer, I decided to tackle a new project. I came up with my own pattern and started cutting.

Hopefully my measurements are correct!

Anchor's Away

I finally finished Dana's Old Red Barn Co. Quilt Along. Three months later. Geesh.
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This quilt was made for my Aunt who has spent the year battling cancer AND WINNING. She finally finished chemo on August 31 and was feeling well enough to join the family for Labor Day activities at the Lake.

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The end is in sight

The quilting is finished, the pins have been removed, and the binding is attached. Now I just need to hand sew it and my Old Red Barn Co. Quilt Along quilt will be finished. I can't wait to move on to my next project.

Strip-tastic

Look at this lovely collection of strips. They're just waiting to be sewn into something marvelous!

Back in the Saddle Again...

Back where a friend meets a friend....
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Oh, sorry - I got carried away there. It must be the sleepiness since it's after midnight and as much as I SHOULD be in bed, I'm actually awake and finishing another evening of quilting. That's three nights of sewing this week! So exciting and I feel like I'm finally back in the groove.
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I finished a top tonight and made the backing. I hope to layer and pin it tomorrow and get the quilting finished before Labor Day. Here's a sneak peek at the backing:

The colors aren't really "me" but they're perfect for the intended recipient. Let's hope I make my deadline!

Newest fabric

I'm finally back on the quilting wagon. I'm trying to finish Dana's quilt along using these fabrics.
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The return to my sewing machine was inspired by a shopping trip to Nancy's Fabric Store in Las Vegas. I spent way too much but I'm love with all the fabric I purchased. It will be fun to see what I create out of the following....

Austin inspiration

Inspiration for my next quilt, compliments of the Austin Convention Center.

Now if I could only find some time to sit down and quilt...

$50 of Fat Quarters!

Who wouldn't want a $50 gift certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop? For your chance to win, visit Rachel over at P.S. I Quilt. Or you can skip entering so it ups my chances of winning. :)

It's a cinch

I'm obsessed with making these little cinch bags. They're cute and fun and only take about 20 minutes to put together. I bought the Cake Therapy pattern the last quilt camp I attended and prompty made five bags. I can't wait to make some more, in different sizes.

Bumble Beans giveaway

Bumble Beans has a giveaway going on through August 1. Head on over and leave a comment for your chance to win this:

Double Wedding Ring

When my grandma was a young girl, living on the farm with no running water or electricity, she spent a summer making a quilt out of her old dresses. It was the double wedding ring pattern and she and her siblings - including her brothers - would gather around after dinner to hand quilt it together.

My grandma has only made one other quilt since then, done entirely with a sewing machine. But that double wedding ring quilt is hanging on a quilt rack in her bedroom. Every time I visit her, I get it out and look at it. It's so beautiful, with the intricate pattern (put together by a beginner!), the 1930's fabrics, and the scalloped edges. I could look at it for hours!

The last time I visited her, she mentioned she would like me to have the quilt some day. I'm the only one in the family that quilts and she knows how much I'd appreciate it. It would certainly be an honor. Maybe it's time for me to make my own 1930's quilt?