Sissy's Birthday

Yes, I did get the quilt top that I made for my sister quilted and bound in time for her birthday, yesterday. Since I wasn't going to get it to her until today I sent her proof pictures that it was actually finished. It only took me about 2 years since she asked for it and I gathered all of the fabric strips from a friend, to make it.

  We have very little in common. The day we went to pick out the backing I found great multi colored polka dots and she found this. She picked the very calm backing.

I did a lot of straight line quilting and was very pleased with the outcome.  

Since she knew about the quilt I had to do something as a surprise.  She said she wanted to get a new, white bedspread and she plans on using this quilt at the foot of the bed to give the room a shot of color.

I decided that some throw pillows (16 inch) would be perfect.

I had left over black and white strips from the top and several of the PoP's of color still hanging around. They worked up perfectly. I dropped all of the above off at her house this morning.  I know she was thrilled with the quilt and i think she was just as thrilled with the pillows. Happy Birthday Baby Sister!

Last but not least,

To All of my American visitors have a safe and happy 4th.

More finds

A few weeks ago I rearranged the quilting room.  At the time I found several UFO's that I have committed to finishing up such as the D9P shown in my last post or the 1600 top from 2 posts ago.

Last week we made arrangements to have our entire townhouse interior painted, all at once, upstairs and down.  When the contractor came to assess the job his only negative comment was about the difficulty the sewing room presented for his crew. As in too much stuff to move and  not enough space to move it to.

With that news we decided to move the sewing room to the basement for the next few months.  Of course that meant cleaning out the basement. The good, the bad and the ugly.

In the process of dragging a gazzilion pounds of sewing stuff down 2 flights of stairs I unearthed yet more UFO's. This is one of them.

I really didn't like making these blocks.  I started the quilt several years ago and stopped when I finished butchering  the first 6 blocks.  I couldn't get the hang of how to match up the odd points.

Now that I have my sewing machine up and running again in it's not so cheery new spot in the basement  I thought I would re purpose a couple of the blocks and came up with these.   Ta Da...............
                                                                         A 4th of July Gift.

I backed the potholder/hot mats with a navy blue towel.  They are on their way to my friends in Fl.  They should make it there before the weekend.

The project was quick and fun.  I will probably make the remaining blocks into potholders too. I will need to decide on doing that before I start anything new because

Navy Blue Terry cloth makes one heck of a mess everywhere.

UFO Completed

Last month I cleaned up my sewing room.  It was just full of surprises including several UFO's that I had completely forgotten about. Included in this group I rediscovered the D9P from the D9P QAL I joined in January 2013.  The QAL was suggested by Freda over at 

http://imperamagna.blogspot.com/2013/01/rules.html

This is how far I got in January 2013.

I believe this is how far I got in February 2013 when it became a WIP attached to my flannel tabelcloth.  It is 6 blocks from completion.  See the 6, 9 patches waiting to be cut up just hanging there waiting patiently to be included.  The question is when does a project go from WIP to UFO? 

Well I vowed to myself that some of the UFO's were going to be finished in the very near future.  So last weekend I took the sad little 9 patches off the wall and finished the top.  Tuesday night after work I sandwiched and started the quilting process.

Wednesday and Thursday evenings were spent finishing up the quilting and Friday night I did the binding.

It's done, it's done. So scary that I lost interest so close to the finish. The good news is that the end date for this particular QAL  as stated by Freda is "The end date will be when you finish".  I made it, big whoop whoop for me.

I did work on another UFO last week.  This one was a lettuce container full of black and white strips and red, green and yellow squares.  I know I put the strips in that container at least 2 years ago when my sister asked me to make this particular quilt for her.

It's a modified 1600 quilt. I thought that it would be great if I got it completely finished for her  summer birthday this year.  It would be done already but she wants to choose the backing.  I'm still hopeful I will be done in time.

This is another lettuce container filled with pieces of a would be quilt. I find that these containers are perfect for storing small projects.  They are see through and stack well and are basically free.  

I think that I will be using this container full for a project for Margaret's Hope Chest.  Amanda Jean at  http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2014/06/scrap-basket-quilt-along-introduction.html

is hosting a QAL for this great organization.  

They are in need of boys quilts and this should be perfect.  I have no recollection of what these are leftovers from but they will be fun to  play with this week.  Hopefully I will have another completed UFO to show off next week.

Alphabet Quilt

Last month we were blessed with another great nephew.  Since he was a second child there was no baby shower, therefore no reminder that time was running out on making  a quilt. I felt the need to get it finished today as I will be returning to work on Monday.

I had a ton of scraps left from my Kona Jelly Rolls from the winter and thought they would work really well with the Moda Alphabet quilt that has been making the rounds lately.  I will admit that the letters are addicting and really speedy to make. 

My biggest error in judgement was setting the quilt at 5 blocks across and 6 down instead of 6 across and 5 down.  My version came out at something like 47x72 where the other way would have been close to a 60 inch square.  The blocks are rectangles not squares.  Next time I will try it that way, yes there will be a next time as it really was a fun quilt to build.    It doesn't really matter either way it will be loved.  It will be in the mail to him tomorrow.

Final Link Up for H2H - 2014 Charity Quilt Challenge

I'm so very happy to report that I was able to contribute a quilt to each of this years Charities in the H2H 2014 Charity Quilt Challenge.

I don't remember which quilt I sent where.

I sent them all out last week and I know that at least one got to its proper destination.

It was a wonderful event coordinated by Sarah over at http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/

This week there is a link up for all of the quilts that were contributed this year.  Stop by and see all of the wonderful hugs going out to those who need it most.  If you weren't a participant stop by and be a cheer leader and maybe consider being a player next spring.  It is such a good feeling.

Strip Easy Quilt Challenge - H2H 2014 #2

May 28 is the link up for the Strip Easy Quilt Challenge - see the button on my sidebar- brought to you by Denise over at  www.piecedbrain.com   The Challenge was to make up to 3 projects using strips from your accumulated scraps.

Since I needed  to make a quilt this month for H2H 2014 I used this opportunity to come up with a quilt that could use my previously existing strips.  The bulk of these were actually from a friends collection which she left on my doorstep when she moved. The windspinners are all from left over strips.  some needed to be trimmed to 2 1/2 inches but they are all from the scrap pile.  The background is from the misc left over stash of creams but not strips.

Next up on my to do list is a baby quilt for my newest nephew. In February Moda had an alphabet hop and if you followed it you got the patterns for the letters.  In January I participated in a hop that required you to use Kona Solids.  At the time I purchased 2 Jelly Rolls.  I still had quite a bit of that stash left and decided to do the Moda letters using the Kona  Strips. They are addicting. Each letter takes less than a strip of  the left over Jelly Roll.  I started it yesterday.

The next quilt is not new for this challenge but I am including it because it is made from scrap strips. Each block is made from a different strip from my stash.  The top was made a while back and put aside.  Last month I pulled it out and quilted it for my first quilt for H2H 2014.

I hope you have been inspired to dig into the scraps. You just never know what you can come up with if you don't give it a try. Thanks Denise for the challenge.

Memorial Day - H2H

I am so glad that I was able to finish this quilt for posting this weekend. It is my 3rd quilt for the H2H 2014 program. Click on the block on the side bar for more information regarding this wonderful program.

It is a small tribute to those who have served and those who are now serving our country and are keeping us safe and free.

This quilt is based on a mini quilt along that was done by Temecula Quilt Co a couple of years ago. Each block has, progressively, 1 additional piece to it. 1 to 12 pieces. I did 2 mini's at the time and last year I made the blocks full size for a Hop I participated in.

This is the back.

And here is a pic of my free motion quilting.  I don't do it very often, once or twice a year.  I do see improvements, but I really need to force myself to practice, practice, practice.

Thank you to All  members of our Armed Forces and those who have gone before them. 

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day.

H2H Update

Kilroy was here, tee hee

Shouldn't pick on my quilt holder, but I just couldn't help it.

This is my number 2 quilt for H2H 2014.  See link on the side bar.

It's quilted and now only needs to have the binding sewn down. I still do that part by hand.  Should get that done sometime today. 

Quilt number 3 needs a back and then I can get it sandwiched ( my least favorite part of quilting) and then quilted. 

 Hopefully I'll have them all finished and ready for photos and a final posting  next week.  Then off in the mail they go.

couple more small projects

I was trying to put away some of the mess in my sewing room and tripped over some more of the kitty fabric.  Since day 1 I thought that the fabric would be a hoot to color.  So I photo copied it onto some card stock and used my watercolor pencils to color.  It was as much fun as I hoped

I made a few note cards while I was at it (uncolored).

and then I used the actual fabric for a set of potholders.

Both the cards and pot holders will be heading to friends in Fl. who are just crazy about their cats.

Keeping Busy

I am doing really well on my recovery.  No pain and most of my range of motion is returning. I still have a limited  attention span and find I can't focus on reading at all.  The good side is that it is amazing how many small projects and UFO's one can tackle and make progress on in 30 minute segments.

I posted before surgery several projects I did want to see if I could finish or at least make progress on.

The first completion was this pair of socks I had found, from who knows when. 3/4's of the first sock was completed .  All it needed was the decrease for the toe.   Now I have a pair.  Actually they were gifted yesterday to an old friend who met up with us for breakfast. Timing is everything.

The picture of the sock on the foot is to show that it fits,  It always amazes me how big the foot looks on hand made socks because the ribbing is so snug.

I also managed to finish another helmet liner. I know that this picture was right side up in my file. Don't know why google takes these liberties. I think this one was close to half way done when I started back on it.

I did start a baby sweater. Probably got it 1/3 done.  Stopped because I need to look up how to do the next step and that isn't working for me at the moment.  I'll give it a shot next week.

I did make the baby quilt that was in my last post and  these are the blocks for the H2H quilt using the same pattern just adding 2 extra rows per block and an additional inch in width.

I will probably use 3 inch sashing to get it to a more useful size for a teen or adult.

But the biggest and best part of going through the UFO's was this find

I started this at least 10 years ago.  I've picked it up on several occasions since but never managed to finish it.  This is entrelac.  It isn't difficult but this piece is rather cumbersome and very heavy.  It is being worked in a  Bulky wool and mohair blend.  All I have left is 2 rows of the beige and one row of the black and the final  row of half triangles in black  and it will be done. I have given it a temporary home on my kitchen table and chair so I can work on it for short spurts when ever.

I also cut out a bunch of Hexie foundation pieces and punched the holes in them but I'm not sure about going forward with that project. Time will tell.

I will continue to plod away and feel so accomplished.  I want to make a set of pot holders and some note cards  and I think there is a not quite half finished pair of mittens somewhere and  3 H2H quilts to be sandwiched and quilted. 30 minutes at a time is amazing.

 Here's wishing you a productive week too.

Sewing Again

Yea, I can sew again.  OK, only in short bursts but that is progress.

I have seen this block popping up in various places around blog land.  Don't know what it's called or if it has a traditional quilt built around it but this is what  I have done with it.  Each block took about a half hour to put together.  About what I can sit still for. 

  

My base block measures in at 12 1/2 inches by 22 1/2 inches.  So this quilt comes in at about 44 x 50.

I made it using up left overs from the Kona Sunrise Colorstory Jelly Roll I got for the Kona blog hop from last winter.  It was a great help that the fabric was pre cut.  

The quilt is for a baby shower I am attending this weekend. I've know the mom since she was eight. She is now in her mid to late 20's.  Time is a flying by.

I had some bits and pieces left from the front and then I tossed in a couple more strips to make the strip of color down the back and I used a few more strips for the binding. I used about 20 strips and then one of the Kona Whites, can't remember which one.  When I replenish my stock my LQS tells me what I buy.  They keep much better records than I.

The backing  is all wonderful black on white kitties.  I bought this fabric at Hobby Lobby last year for a quilt back and loved it so much that I went and back and picked up some more. Oops that picture is upside down.

I love how bright and cheery this quilt turned out. I love bright for babies.  

I think I will try and whip up another one of these strictly from my scraps.  I think I have a good collection on 2 1/2 inch strips in a drawer somewhere. I think I will make it a bit bigger, maybe starting with a 14 1/2 inch strip instead of a 12 1/2.  That will make the blocks 14 1/2 by 26 1/2 and a quilt of maybe 50 x 62 with out borders.  I have one more quilt to start for this years H2H and this may be it.

H2H 2014

My personal goal for this year for H2H is 3 quilts.  I cheated a little bit.  I went rummaging in my drawer of "tops" and found these 2 which fit the bill perfectly.

I should be able to get them quilted and another done start to finish by the completion date.

It's not to late to join H2H 2014.  Click on the magic button on the right for details and information on the prizes that are available for winning for the participants.

Do you have a drawer or a box or a shelf holding tops for safe keeping?  This is a great chance to give one a home where it can do the job a quilt is meant to do.  HUG

It's been a tough week

First thanks to all of you for the prayers and happy thoughts regarding my surgery..  It went extremely well. Surgery Tuesday morning, home Thursday afternoon.  I'm able to walk around the house quite well with the walker and cane.

The tough and very sad part to the week is that my faithful assistant Tink passed away on Saturday.  It was very sudden and thankfullly  there was little to no suffering on her part.

Here she is helping me with a photo shoot.

She is a huge loss to our family. She was loved and will be missed.

This is my most favorite shot of her and her dad.

She was a wonderful example of what a rescued animal can be.  She arrived at our house a bit of an emotional mess and turned out to be a loving girl as the picture above shows.  WE were privileged to have had her in our lives for 6 wonderful years where she shared her love with us each and every day.