Do I look taller?

I 

 Finishing this project stretched my abilities.  I feel like I grew as a fmqer.

I went into the quilting process not really liking  this top any longer.  The colors are much more subtle that anything I have worked on in a while, so I figured what the heck, I'm going to practice feathers.

 The ones on the left look more like hearts than feathers but I still kinda like them.

Then I figured might as well go for it.  Yeah, not so good but with practice....... maybe.  (Don't remember them looking quite so shaky and misshapen in person.)

I like the back so I might use it as the top.

The binding has to be hand sewn still but the sun was out so I thought I should take advantage of it.  This one is 95 x 104, yikes!

Hope Thanksgiving was great for everyone.  It is my favorite time of year because it is the opening of fudge season!

2012 Challenge

I have been moving right along with 'Crazy Mom Quilts' finish it up Friday (Thanks Amanda!) Enough so that I am planning on joining the 2012 FMQ challenge.  I am totally enjoying the FMQ that I am doing on my machine and sooooo want to get better.

Enter    SewCalGirl's challenge.  The link is to the right of this post.  I am excited!
Only 3 1/2 UFOs to go.
If you are interested click on over to SewCalGirl's page and check it out.
No pictures today, but  hopefully tomorrow.

2 finishes this week

This is lame, but I finished my new ironing board that I have been thinking about for a long time.  I covered half of my cutting table with that batting that is heat resistant and then used a cotton shower curtain that I had picked up at TJ Maxx several years ago for a buck.  I love this big ironing surface since I very seldom make anything smaller than a queen.

My second finish this week (and I promise I will not post about this again) is that very old flimsie I got from a friend.

 I took a long time to figure out how to quilt it.  I think it is from the 30s or 40s or what ever era   reproduction fabric is from and this is not a reproduction, it is the real deal.

 The quilting is not perfect and at times I thought about ripping out some of the quilting but kept telling myself it doesn't have to be perfect.  I am so not a perfectionist and that is why I love freemotion quilting cause it doesn't have to be perfect.

 I used a border that I removed to bind it.

 I totally love the crinkly goodness of the back even with the gingham.

It is blizzarding here today so I guess I need to start pin basting a UFO that is back to being a PIP.

Happy Friday

Flannel goodness

 My youngest son just moved back to our town.  I went over to see his new apartment and there on his bed was a quilt I forgot I made. Gee it must have been 7 or 8 years ago.

Of course him being a boy and me being a mom I knew it needed washing.  So I brought it home and washed it, now it is so soft and snuggly, and snapped some pictures of it.  I have lots of quilts that I never did take pics of.

It warmed my heart that he is still using it.

Don't know why I haven't sewn with flannel for so long but as soon as I get some of my PIPs finished I am going to make a flannel quilt for my bed.

Maybe since flannel is so bulky and I usually quilt on my little Bernina I gave it up. I'm thinking a quilt as you go flannel quilt is in my future.  Any one tried that?

Fiinnnnnnaaaaaallyyyyy!

 It's about time I started quilting this.  I was so wary of quilting for someone else, mostly  cause this top is so old, and didn't want to screw it up.  But sitting in my 'to do' pile wasn't a good thing either.  So I bit the proverbial bullet and lowered the needle and viola!  I am not even half way done but I think it will be okay.

I always thought this should be hand quilted but I wasn't up for that and Launa didn't seem to care.  She had been using it as a table cloth for crying out loud.  Some of the fabric is so old and worn you can see through it.  Yikes!

Last week I worked on a quilt with lots of whoop to dos to practice for this one.

Guess I better quit procrastinating (again) and get back to sewing.

No snow yet!

Frosty finish

Figured I might as well take a frosty pic of this black and white quilt..  It doesn't pop in the flat light.

This has been a UFO for ?????

It feels so good to have a finish.

Here is a close up of the quilting.  It seems I always fall back to leaves and this time I put in  loopy crazy daisies.  I was getting practice for a friends quilt that I am going to start quilting today.  I have been putting it off cause it is an old top and I sure would hate to have pick out all of my quilting.
Sounds like we will get snow this weekend so it is a great time to hibernate in my sewing room.

Have a fun weekend.

When is a ufo a ufo?

After a long fun summer I have moved back into my house and am thinking about sewing. Yay.  It has been a long time.  I was flipping thru some of my fav blogs today and found 'finish it up friday' over at crazy mom quilts.  I know I have lots of unfinished projects and think I am going to follow along with her.
Of course then I start to question what I really need to finish before I get to start something new.  Obviously if it is cut (or some of it is cut) it has become a ufo and needs to be finished.  But what if I have purchased the fabric and know the pattern but haven't cut anything, is it a ufo?  I'm thinking it is only if it hasn't been bumped lower on my priority list by something I really really want to start.

 The above picture is from a crazy long hike I took in Glacier Nat'l Park this summer with a 37 lb pack.  Crazy!

Okay these are the 6 ufos I am claiming

.  This one I had some problems with some cuts I made when I didn't like the finished top so I need to do some head scratching then JUST DO IT.

 

 This one I started two years ago. Man how time flies.


The zig zag I just made this spring and put the top away with one strip left to finish the top.

And Oh man, this one has been waiting several years to be quilted.  I love the quilting part but I really hate making the sandwich.  And I guess I will be doing that since I have not made any room for a longarm.  Really did think I would have one by now.

Isn't this cool.  It is an old top that a friend of mine was using as a table cloth.  Anyhow she gave it to me to quilt.   It is pinned and ready but I need to get some practice in before I start this one.

Hope you all have some finishes in your future.

Sounds like I make a lot of rules for myself and yup I do.  Sometimes I follow them sometimes I don't

a glimpse and a finish

Never thought I would like to quilt feathers but they are fun and good for me to practice on.  But, yikes, I combined them with some random squares, really not sure where I am  going with this.

I finished this a week or so ago and it felt so good.  I rented a long arm and had lots of fun with the quilting.  It is so much easier with a LA than with my domestic machine. 

It is starting to finally feel like summer and I sure would like to make a dent in the stack of tops before I hit the trails.

We still have high avalanche danger in the mountains here so I don't think we will be hiking for awhile.  My favorite chalet in Glacier Park was damaged by a big avalanche this winter, the pictures are amazing.

Enjoy the blue skies.

great find

I'm not much on garage sales but yesterday I stopped at an estate sale and found

this fun bunch of stuff for 5 bucks.  The rotary cutter is worth that, but I also got the large pinking shears (not that I will use it much) a ton of old wooden spools and lots of old bias tape.

  Fun fun fun.

The best is the measuring egg!  At first I thought it was Silly Putty but on closer inspection.... what could be better? And the little white and red contraption is a needle threader, and it works.  Yowza!

Okay now the fun is over and I have to get this top finished.

I do have a finish that I will post soon plus I have a top that I started quilting looked at it and thought 'what the hell was I thinking?'  Any way I will post that soon and see if you all have some ideas for me.

It's gotta be the rebel in me

Somewhere I saw a picture of a rainbow cake and had to make one.

To find the recipe I googled rainbow cake and could not believe all the comments about the food coloring, sugar and whatever else.  Come on!  Lighten up and enjoy.

I had a bit of extra batter so I made some cupcakes for the neighbor kids.  I like them and want them to live long happy lives but really? I don't think they will be eating this everyday (well at least until the cupcakes are gone) so I think a bit of color and fun is okay.  I think the unfrosted cake is more fun to look at.

Here is the finished  half eaten cake.  Kinda reminded me of a clowns wig.  Probably a once in a lifetime eat but I am glad I made it, gel colors and all.  Sure got a smile from the kids.

The other day I realized

I didn't have a finish yet for 2011.  I have lots of starts and finishes of flimsies but nothing layered and quilted and bound.

So I dropped everything

 and headed for the closet with the line of tops just waiting for a finish.

 I grabbed this 'colorbrick' quilt mainly cause it had a back and binding just waiting to be used.

I had followed Rachael's quilt-along directions for the top and decided to use her quilting instruction as well.  I don't use straight line quilting much, mainly cause fmq'ing is so much fun, but wanted to follow the whole shebang.  It was fun.  I think it would have turned out a bit better if I had paid attention to my fabric choices all being prewashed or not.  As it is some of the fabrics must have been prewashed cause there were some that did not shrink.  If I had done an all over fmq I don't think the shrinkage or lack of would be as noticeable.

All in all it is a really cuddly quilt that I love and so does my soon to be daughter in law (we will see who gets it).  And it is my first finish of the year.  Yay

It's play time.......finally!

 I am finally getting to put these on the design wall. When I pieced them together I  was really random, just barely pairing light and dark.

The one above is putting like colors together regardless of value. The layout would be way too time consuming and I am feeling with all the trimming I am over these squares.

 Right is squares of value regardless of color.  This is my second choice so far.

This one is lines of light and dark but with my whimsical piecing of color value it does not work (even if I could lay it out correctly)  But I like this idea and may do something like this in the future.

Somewhere recently, I saw a top pieced like this one in zigzags.  So far this one may be my favorite.

Any thoughts?

Holy HST's

This is my brain.......

after spending several evenings making these

I have been on a scrap/stash busting binge for a couple of months now and hate to say I have hardly made a dent on the stash and the scrap bins are now overflowing.  Huh????

I had figured I needed 6?? some hst's for a large quilt and as my mind was wandering aimlessly I realized if I was only to make this quilt 30hst  x 30 hst's I needed 900!  Yikes.

....so back to the cutting board.  Since I was trimming these, I figured I  could eyeball the diagonal line instead of drawing it.  It totally saved alot of time and I just used the theory I use while skiing in the trees; look where you want to go.  So I just put my eyes on on the end corner and voila, that is just about where I ended up. 

I hope to finish these bad boys today while it is snowing.

Can't wait to start putting them on the design wall ;)

I hope someone out there is getting spring and blue sky.

Spray basting question

Hi,
No pics today just a few spray basting questions.  I want to spray baste a queen size.  Can't do it outside cause of all the snow and mud, so what is the procedure.  I can tape the back to the carpet but I don't want all the overspray to end up on the carpet.  Any tips on how to manage that?  Is a queen just too big to spray baste?  I hope not, cause I am hoping to get away from the safety pin gig.  Any suggestions will be very welcome.

Inspiration on the hill

I went skiing today and while the skiing wasn't spectacular I saw some amazing ski jackets (I bet they really were snowboarding jackets)  I couldn't wait to get home to start working on my ideas. 

But I got home and this was still on my design wall!

What! the finishing gnomes didn't come and  work their magic on this?  Well shoot!  But I had a AHA! moment and now I know what to do with this.  Yup, I'm going to finish it before I start one of the new tops.  

I have never been one to draw out my ideas on paper, I'm a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl,  but it worked.  Imagine that!  If I sit down and draw it out, it gels and hopefully I will not waste as much time, fabric, thread or patience.  Can't wait to get to work.

Have a blue sky day.

To cut or not to cut!?

I had a bunch of strips that I decided to sew together and now I am not sure I like it.  I am thinking about cutting it up kinda bargello like.  Or the other thought is doing some thread painting on it before I sandwich it.  What do you think?  I need some input....please.

yowza!

I finally tried spray basting.  I love it!  When I cleaned my sewing room I found several tops that I had never quilted and don't really love anymore so I thought they would be my guinea pigs.  I practiced doing feathers, never thought I would want to quilt feathers but they are kinda fun.  Lately I have been doing alot of straight line quilting and though I do think there is a place for it.... I really, really, really love free motion quilting.  The spray  baste really held the layers together so there was not a problem with the back getting any wrinkles.

I have 5 or 6 queen to king tops finished and I think I will try spray baste and use my little ol' home machine to quilt them.  But first, I have a finish (well except for the hand stitching) so I can start a new quilt........right?

spinnin' my wheels!

My youngest son just left after spending the holidays with us.  The house seems so empty now. So I thought I would get busy organizing..... took the ornaments off the tree...

but couldn't actually get myself to take the tree
down










Went to my sewing room.......  Yikes!

I really need to do something about that scrap bin.

Lined up my extra glasses....

Decided I needed to do something fun.  I have been thinking about making some letters after seeing some dandies on blogs.  They took much longer than I thought but now I had some fun so maybe tomorrow I will post pictures of my CLEAN sewing room.