Friday Night Sew In—Update III

I finished quilting hubby’s B-day Quilt…

Excess has been trimmed too. Now it just needs binding and it will be ready to wash and wrap :)

Friday Night Sew In—Part II

I have been sewing away. I decided to work on hubby’s B-day quilt. I got it all pinned…

 

After pinning it I stopped to eat dinner and clean the kitchen. Thanks to Hubby we had BBQ chicken on the grill. It was yummy (should have taken a pic of that).

 

After eating I got busy quilting…

  As you can see I decided to stipple the quilt. I am outlining the stars and leaving the blue part unstippled. I am making good progress. Unfortunately, I really do not care for the way it is turning out, but feel like I have gone too far to rip it out :(

Maybe I will like it better when it is completed and washed.

Hubby’s B-Day Quilt Top

My hubby’s birthday is May 17. This year he is getting a quilt :) He wanted one that was ALL white…UGGGG. Needless to say, I nixed that idea real quick. I did however try to make him one that has as much white as possible.
A while back, I was making some wonky stars and made on that was blue and white. he really liked it. So that is what I used in his quilt.

Everyone is already in bed so I didn’t have anyone to hold the quilt top up for me. I HATE taking pics while they are laying on the ground because of the angle it gives. Anyway, after trying and trying to take a decent pic I got the idea of leaning over the upstairs banister. Turned out pretty good (better than the others anyway).
The back will be solid white with one star. I will use the center of the star to write something sweet and tag it (CJ’s idea). I am going to either stipple or loopy loop all over it (I think). I will bind it with the same navy that the stars are made out of.

Quilting is Done

Today I took a trip to Joann’s to buy some fabric to back and bind my Recess quilt. I decided to go with navy flannel for the back because I have seen (and felt) several quilts that have been backed with flannel and LOVED how soft and cozy they were. I came home and got my quilt sandwiched and ready to quilt. This evening I decided to go ahead and get the quilting done. Here it is. I still need to bind it. Having second thoughts about the fabric I bought for that. I got red and am not sure now…would love some opinions :)

To say that I LOVE this quilt would be an understatement. It turned out better than I had imagined in my head. I know that it is a super simple BUT I don’t care I LOVE IT!!!

I used Recess and it is about 54 inches square right now.

This quilt is for my Grandmother. It will be a Mother’s Day gift from me and the boys. My Mother passed away when I was a baby and she was my Grandparents only child. Mother’s Day is bitter sweet for her. My Grandmother is getting old and her health isn’t very good. I really wanted to do something special for her this year. I know that it will really warm her heart.

This quilt was inspired by a quilt that my Great Grandmother made for me when I was little. I will try to take a pic of it and post it in a day or two.

P.S.

This will be the 1st quilt that will be given to someone outside of our house (although it is still going to family). Up until now I have had a very hard time parting with the quilts. I still have a hard time. I really want to keep this, but I knew when I was making it that it would be leaving. I made sure to tell my hubby that it was for my Grandmother that way I couldn’t back out :)

Busy Little Sewer

I got a lot accomplished yesterday. I think taking pictures of all my goodies helped get me motivated by reminding me of all the cute fabrics I have waiting for me. 

I managed to finish sewing the top of my Nanny’s Charm Quilt I am giving her for Mother’s Day. I plan on going to Joann’s in a little while to buy some flannel for the back and fabric for the binding. I will try to get it sandwiched and at least ready to sew.

 

I also worked on the quilt I plan on giving my hubby for his Birthday next month. I made 6 of the 13 stars I will need. I plan on making the other 7 today (hopefully).

It’s a 1st

Today I made my 1st mini quilt and pieced back. I have seen many people making mini quilts and doll quilts and I have always wondered WHY?? Well today I found out. Fast, fun, and you get to try new techniques on a small scale. Here is what I made…pretty simple, but it is a start :)

This is the front…

This is the back…

 

I am going to bind it in the strip print.

Tomorrow during the CGQC Spring Sewing Party I will be making another one for the NAME THAT QUILT give away. I have just enough fabric.

I have decided to keep this one because:

• I don’t have any mini quilts and I think this one will be cute on my wall.
• because I just think it is so darn cute!
• because I can :)

The best part of this quilt and the one I am making tomorrow is the fact that everything I used to make them with is scraps. The charms were left over from the BIG quilt and there were not enough to do anything with. The white fabric is left over strips from another project. The strip fabric on the back is the tail cut off of the binding on the BIG quilt. I love that I found a way to use up the scraps. Oh, even the batting is from scraps. I took 2 strips from the excess of the BIG quilt and pieced them together and then cut the size I needed :)

Name that Quilt--GIVE AWAY UPDATE

EDIT: I have decided that there should be 2 chances to win. In addition to the Name winner, I will randomly draw a second name from one of the comments of this post. The prize will be another mini quilt from the left over charms. For those of you who do not have a name suggestion please tell me about your favorite fabric line. Right now mine is VERNA.

I will choose the Quilt Name and have the drawing on Wednesday. Good luck :)

I need a name for my new quilt. I am HORRIBLE at naming quilts. This is where you come in. Help me name my quilt. If I choose the name you suggested there will be a prize in it for you :)

What is the prize you ask? Well, I had just enough squares left from my charms to make a Wonky Star mini quilt. Of course I don’t have it made yet, but I assure you I will by the end of the weekend.

Here is a picture of the charms that I have left. Some of them will be used in the mini quilt.

The binding for the quilt you are naming is going to be in the striped fabric on the left (pictured above).

Now, put your thinking caps on and NAME THAT QUILT!

I will post a picture of the quilt again AFTER I have the binding on and have it washed. Remember the squares are raw edge appliquéd so they will be frayed after washing. This will make for one soft, cozy, charming quilt.

I am in LOVE

With this quilt. I just finished the quilting, trimmed it down to the size I wanted it, and it is ready for the binding…now if only the mail would get here with my binding fabric :)

I can not wait to bind and wash this one. I just LOVE it!

For the most part the spacing turned out pretty well. I did learn a few things during this project. If anyone decides to make a quilt like this, I HIGHLY suggest pinning it with safety pins in the middle and then gluing down the corners (gluing first). I didn’t do this at first and had to go back and glue down the corners. I was in a hurry and ended up stretching some of the squares. So it kind of got out of whack, but not enough for me to be bothered by it in the end.

It took a while to get the squares spaced. I made 1 inch spacers from the cardboard inserts from a Layer Cake and charm packs (worked really well too).

 

All in all this was a FUN project, one that I am sure I will do again :)

Oh and thanks to everyone who left comments on the spacing and the BRIGHT pink squares!

Need Help :)

I can't decide between 1/2 inch spacing or 1 inch spacing…what do you think? Top part is 1 inch. Bottom part is 1/2 inch.

Verna Quilt Update…

I have all the squares laid out on my sheet. I still need to perfect the spacing, but it is coming along.

This is how I had it laid out at first.

I wasn’t sure I was in love with the BRIGHT PINK squares. I only had 4 of them and to me it just needed a couple more so I took them out and now it looks like this…

not sure why the picture turned out so dark, maybe my flash didn’t go off? Anyway here is it without the BRIGHT PINK squares…what do you think? Layout 1 or layout 2?

Here is a better picture of layout 2 taken from the side angle.

I wish the charms had more of the bright pink squares, but each charm only had 1 of each fabric and I only had 4 charm packs…I am thinking without more of the bright pink I am liking the second layout better. Leave a comment letting my know what you think.

Off to get them spaced correctly, this should be fun….NOT

Friday Night Sew In—Part 2

After finishing up my NEPTUNE I decided to figure out EXACTLY what I wanted to do with the VERNA and other supplies I purchased. After some thought this is what I came up with. The back is taped down and the quilt sandwich has been made. I just have to get the charms laid out the way I want them and spaced right. When that is done I will pin them down and quilt it.

So far I have 2 charm packs laid out…just another 1.5 to go :)
but now I have to call it a night.

FRIDAY NIGHT SEW IN & A FINISH

I got a head start on the FNSI. I managed to finish my NEPTUNE. It is all washed and ready to love.

 

Now I am trying to decide what else to do…

My next quilt project will be for the CGQC Spring Sewing Party. I am going to use my VERNA charm packs to make a charm quilt something like the following… Pattern and Quilt

For this quilt I will be using:

• several VERNA charms
• 1 full sized white sheet from Target (for the top background)
• 1 full sized yellow sheet from Target (for the back)
• Yardage of VERNA stripe fabric for the binding (ordered)

The yellow sheet doesn’t look as pretty in the picture as it is person. It is bright and beautiful, and matches the yellow in the VERNA perfectly! My camera was giving me issues and I couldn’t get a great shot.

Friday Night Sew IN

I will be joining Heidi and the other quilters for the Friday Night Sew In tonight. If you would like to join us, visit Heidi’s blog to sign up.

Tonight I will be finishing up my NEPTUNE Scruffy Quilt. I have the binding sewn to the front, and will be hand sewing it to the back to finish it. If I have any time left after that I will be getting my quilt fabric ready for the CGQC Spring Party coming up on February 27th. There will be a lot of prep work for the quilt I will be doing so I would like to get that out of the way, but 1st I have to make a little side trip to Joann’s Fabric store to get some thread, batting, and fusible web :)

Here is a picture of my NEPTUNE quilt as is…hopefully tomorrow morning there will be a picture of fresh out of the wash an dryer :)

 

I just have to say again how happy I am that I took this quilt apart and redid it. I AM SO LOVEING IT NOW! I know I say this about every quilt I finish, but this IS my FAVORITE one!

NEPTUNE READY TO QUILT

My NEPTUNE top is pinned and ready to quilt. Hopefully I will have it done by tomorrow evening (that’s if all goes as planned).

I really need to learn how to better photograph my quilts…any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

NEPTUNE UPDATE

Remember a few posts back when I told you that I was taking apart my Neptune Quilt top because I didn’t like the layout? Well, I managed to get it sewn back together this evening. Tomorrow I will get it ready to quilt and finish it up. I am so excited to be so close to finishing this one! My hubby doesn’t like the NEPTUNE fabric, but I LOVE it!!! I will post pictures when I get it finished :)

Not a Moment TOO Soon & Need a Name

FINALLY…My Valentines quilt is finished and without a moment to spare. I had the binding on by 10 pm, threw it in the wash, and took it out of the drier at 11:56. The goal was to have it finished by tomorrow and I did it! GO ME!

I finished quilting it yesterday afternoon, and wasn’t sure that I liked it. This was the first time I tried my hand at stippling. The first evening I started quilting it I was happy with the way it was looking, but after my machine came back from the shop, I never could get back into the pattern I had going the fist day.

I have to admit that after removing it from the drier and seeing all it’s wrinkly crinkly goodness I was in love with it. I can’t even tell that the quilting is “off”.

I have been trying to come up with a name for this quilt (I still need to label it). I was thinking about “Seeing Red” because 1-it’s V-day quilt (red) and 2-With all the issues I had with it I was seeing red! Haven’t made a final decision though…anyone have a suggestion?

Anyway, here is a few pic. I decided to do a scrappy border on this one. I was going to do an all red plaid border, but I wanted to use the 4 other strips I had that match, so I cut 3 plaid strips to add to the other 4 and alternated them…I LOVE IT!