Felt Food Friday - Bacon & Eggs

Based on the tutorial here - but I put the pipe cleaner directly under the white strip in the bacon to save stitching time. Bendy bacon is definitely a hit.

The Dude is convinced I made eggs this way because I can't make oval ones. I guess I know what I'm doing next week.

Work in Progress Wednesday - Week 29

Finally - finally - I learned paper piecing!

I'm doing the St. Paul quilt block in batiks. It's supposed to look like stained glass windows, and I am so in love. I've read dozens of online tutorials, but it didn't make sense until I took a class and just did it. Thank goodness for excellent teachers!

Hunter's Star, round two: 32/90 light blue half-blocks

 Five Swoon blocks done; working on #6, a 16" one. I saved the HSTs from the flying geese in the bigger blocks - soon I need to figure out if I can use those in the smaller blocks.

I finished piecing Sunkissed Jewel Box.

Mom's Tennessee Waltz is quilted and bound and packed for Virginia.

Quilt-Alongs:
Fat Quarter Stars - first block posted yesterday - haven't made mine yet
Argyle Quilt Along - starts 10/3 - I'm using a stash of fall fabrics to make a slightly smaller version
LQS Saturday Sampler

Untouched This Week:

Chunky Log Cabin

Frolicking Pinwheels

Awaiting Quilting:

Halloween Hexagons

Steelers Quilt

Bad Romance

Layer Cake Quilt Along

Hunter's Star

In Planning:

Cars Quilt (the Dude)

New Projects: 1

Completed Projects: 1

In Progress: 15

 

Check out more at Work in Progress Wednesday!

Fifteen Minute Challenge - Week 5

Circle bag. That's it. 

Fifteen minutes, every day, stitching, seam ripping, pinning, reading the pattern, throwing it across the room.

It is still.not.working.

I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the bottom together. I suspect, despite sewing that darn circle five times, I've got the liner attached upside down. And just when I finally got the circle in with no bunching.

I'm taking a quilting class tomorrow, so I'm taking the stupid bag to see if my instructor can figure out how to finish it.

And then the next time someone asks me to sew a circle bag, I'm going to say, "Sorry, I only make square things."

See how others are managing their time at Life in Pieces!

Design Wall Monday - Week 39

Slowly adding more Swoon blocks.

There's now two 24" blocks, two 8" blocks, and one 16" block.

I have two more full fat quarters, so I can do one more 24" if I want - I probably will because it takes me 2+ hours for each block, regardless of the size. 

I have plenty more partial fat quarters for the smaller blocks. Looks like I need more brown in the smaller blocks and more color in the bigger blocks...

See more design walls at Patchwork Times!

Sunday Stash Report - Week 39

Ooh, report's going down today!

 I got Mom's Tennessee Waltz back from Paula and got the binding on it.

And then I finished sewing together the Sunkissed Jewel Box rows. It's 48" square and I don't think I'm going to put borders on it.

And in saving-my-stash-report-by-not-buying... I still haven't decided on a back for the Halloween Hexagons. I tried a minkee back, but the stitches totally disappeared, and I really want them to stand out. So there's black flannel, or Kona, or...has anyone ever used poly-satin? I think it would be too slippery, but it comes in 60" so I wouldn't have to piece it.

Used this Week: 8.93

Used Year to Date: 109.78

Added this Week: 0

Added Year to Date: 145.12

Net Used for 2011: (35.34) yards

Check out how everyone else is doing on Patchwork Times!

Tennesee Waltz - Finished!

I've had this quilt on my to-do list for over three years, when my mother and I saw it on "Simply Quilts." I bought the fabric and the Tri-Recs rulers last summer...and yet it still took another year to get it made.

I'm so glad I finally did it! I love the way the blocks flow. it's such a simple quilt with a lot of visual impact.

Red: Bonnie Blue Basics by Paula Barnes (Marcus)

Blue: Itsy Bits by Renee Nanneman (Andover)

Dark Neutral: Prairie Paisley by Minick & Simpson (Moda)

Light Neutral: Essentials (Wilmington Prints)

Binding: Tribute by American Valor

Paula quilted it with an all-over pattern, which shows up very well on the neutral flannel back.

I did the binding with some red piping. I prefer machine stitching binding this way - I think it looks nicer than top stitching. And it's definitely faster than hand sewing!

It measures 70" square and is off to Virginia for my mother's 60th birthday - and I'm accompanying it!

See more finishes at Can I Get a Whoop-Whoop!

Felt Food Friday - Cheez-its

We gave my son a play kitchen for his fifth birthday...18 months later, he still has no food. He mentions this, oh, about five times a day.

So I'm trying to make one food item a week to remedy this situation.

I might have started with the easiest.

I used this tutorial - my lines are about 3/4" apart.

So far, he's served me Cheez-its in a bowl, on a plate, and in a frying pan.

Up next - eggs!

Work in Progress Wednesday - Week 28

I do think I may be in love with this one.

I debated Swoon - it's a lovely pattern, but it's BIG, and I only have 12 fat quarters. A 2x3 layout would suck. A little bit of math, and I have Swoon A Little, Swoon A Lot. The big one is the 24" from the pattern. The little ones are 8"; I'm also going to have 12" blocks.

Hunter's Star, round two: 24/90 light blue half-blocks (did I say 12 blocks a day? I don't remember that.)

Prepping my piped binding for Mom's Tennessee Waltz. It's already back from Paula! If I get the binding on tomorrow, I will be done a week ahead of schedule. Insane.

I sewed two rows of Sunkissed Jewel Box together. It's only six rows; it really shouldn't take this long.

 And I finished Halloween Hexagons. It's basted and ready to be quilted after I get the binding on the Tennessee Waltz. Really. I'm going to finish the TW before quilting this.

Untouched This Week:

Chunky Log Cabin

Frolicking Pinwheels (actually, I cut squares for this, but didn't sew any)

Awaiting Quilting:

Steelers Quilt

Bad Romance

Layer Cake Quilt Along

Hunter's Star

In Planning:

Cars Quilt (the Dude)

New Projects: 0

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 12

Fifteen Minute Challenge - Week 4

I didn't do as well this week... I sewed every day except Saturday, but I didn't work on any UFOs on Friday or Monday.

I've been using my sister's Hunter's Star as a leader/ender instead of one of my UFO l/e projects. Which is good for her, but not so good for me.

This week, I really need to tackle her circle bag, one step at a time, for 15 minutes. Because otherwise the instructions are far too frustrating.

See how others are managing their time at Life in Pieces! 

Design Wall Monday - Week 38

I'm using the wall to try to finish the backing for Halloween Hexagons...and I don't think it's going to work.

I only had six fat quarters of the stars, and adding that pieced section will only give me another 5" strip, which won't cover the left side.

So I don't know what to do. The fat quarters are (of course) from last year. And they glow-in-the-dark - anything I piece from my stash won't.

I could scrap it and go buy some minkee or flannel, because honestly, the spiderweb I plan on quilting won't show as well on this back. Not a very effective use of stash...but then, neither is this right now.

I do think the strip is kinda cool, though.

Check out more interesting design walls at Patchwork Times!

Sunday Stash Report - Week 38

I got a massive pile of fabric this week, but I'm not counting it. My sister paid for it and it's all going back to her...as a finished quilt...eventually.

6.5 yards each of the Windham Wedgwood Delft, and 2.5 yards of Kona White, for a king size Hunter's Star. That would just make too big of a dent in my stash, so since it's not MY stash fabric, it's not counting. But it's awfully pretty to look at.

In my own fabrics, I had a mostly-stash finish this week.

I used six fat quarters from stash, bought two more, and used up the rest of the Steelers gold. I already started piecing the back, and bought glow-in-the-dark thread to quilt it.

 I also bought a half yard for Mom's Tennessee Waltz's binding. The wonderful Paula already finished quilting it, so it'll get it bound this week.

Used this Week: 2.5

Used Year to Date: 100.85

Added this Week: 1.0

Added Year to Date: 145.12

Net Used for 2011: (44.27) yards

Yay! I broke 100 yards used!

 

Check out how everyone else is doing on Patchwork Times!

Halloween Hexagons - Top Finished!

I'm a little surprised at how quickly this one went together, but I guess it's not a very complicated quilt.

I used Jaybird's hexagons, block three, and her second layout. Mine are 6" unfinished, which comes to about 30.5" on each side and about 60" across the center.

I have some glow-in-the-dark fabric that I was going to use as the separating triangles, but they were dark and blended a little too much. My quilt teacher said maybe a gold like the moons would work...and I remembered I had leftover Steelers gold...so yay, used some scraps!

I ended up taking pictures inside because the wind would not cooperate. It's very gloomy and rainy today - probably why I decided to finish this instead of Sunkissed Jewels. Since we were inside, I tried to get Wedge to pose, but trying to get a cat on a quilt is as hard as trying to get a cat off a quilt.

The glow-in-the-dark fabric will be the back, and I have glow-in-the-dark thread that I'll use to quilt a giant spiderweb on it.

There are more finishes at Confessions of a Fabric Addict!

Work in Progress Wednesday - Week 27

I started an unhealthy number of quilts this week. I was bored, I liked the block, it was a new technique, my sister's fabric for her Hunter's Star came, I have an attention problem...whatever.

Based off the Jaybird hexagons. Mine are 6" unfinished, which cuts neatly from fat quarters, and I'm doing the second layout. And I'm going to quilt it like it's a spider web. And the back is going to glow in the dark. It's going to be awesome.

{actual blocks will be half dark blue/half light blue, but I love that she chose the white stars.}

Hunter's Star, round two. This one will be king size. Which, I don't even want to think about how big that is. I'm trying to do a manageable twelve half-blocks a day.

What else is big? Swoon blocks. Except you randomly decide to make 8" blocks. Then you have to piece three times as many. I might not have thought this out completely.

In previous projects:

Sunkissed Jewel Box is still slowly getting pieced together.

Mom's Tennessee Waltz is done and at the quilter's. Need to prep binding.

Untouched This Week:

Chunky Log Cabin

Frolicking Pinwheels

Awaiting Quilting:

Steelers Quilt

Bad Romance

Layer Cake Quilt Along

Hunter's Star

In Planning:

Cars Quilt (the Dude)

New Projects: 3

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 12

Check out more at Work in Progress Wednesday!

Fifteen Minute Challenge - Week 3 - & LQS Saturday Sampler Block 8

I must say, 15 minutes a day is a great way to do my BOM. I finished it in four frustration-free days.

I really like this block. Possibly because I didn't have to seam rip once. But I like the layout, too. It just...works.

So that took four days, then I sewed patches for a friend. Which is not something I like to do...hmm, perhaps I shouldn't have let the Dude join the Cub Scouts...

See how others are managing their time at Life in Pieces and check out more BOMs at What A Hoot!

Design Wall Monday - Week 37

Still Sunkissed Jewels...

Poor thing got relegated to leaders/enders for a while. The top three rows are completely done. I should get it together soon, though I'm going to spend the next couple of days cutting for a retreat, and I'm not taking something as big as this for retreat leaders/enders.

Of course, it's hard to work on anything when your cutting table looks like this...

Check out more design walls at Patchwork Times!

Sunday Stash Report - Week 37

I finished Mom's Tennessee Waltz.

 Which blew through some fabric.

Which I then un-blew-through when I bought 4.5 yards for the back. I just don't have a lot of backing fabrics on hand - or enough of the right-ish colors or theme to piece.

However, I handed the quilt off to my quilter yesterday, so the backing will be back off the report in a couple weeks (instead of waiting months for me to get around to quilting it.)

Used this Week: 5.5

Used Year to Date: 98.35

Added this Week: 4.5

Added Year to Date: 144.12

Net Used for 2011: (45.77) yards

Check out how everyone else is doing on Patchwork Times!

Tennessee Waltz Top - Finished!

I wouldn't call it a Quilt in a Day (does Eleanor Burns sew on crack?), but it did take about a week and a half, start to finish. Not bad for (what I think is) an impressive looking design.

I prefer the framing of a stop border + wide border, but the blue was all I had left, so that's what it got.

It measures 69x69" and it's off to get professionally quilted before heading east for my mother's birthday.

There are more finishes at Confessions of a Fabric Addict!

Work in Progress Wednesday - Week 26

{All my pictures look dark, because - thank goodness - it looks like we're going to get some rain! It feels a little off to be happy with a dreary day, especially with the East Coast flooding in the rain, but we really need it.}

The Steelers Quilt top is done! And almost in time for football season!

42/42 Sunkissed Jewel Box blocks pieced. I'm working on the layout - separated the blocks based on the four-patch colors. The first picture is a circle of pink, then grey, then alternating yellow/orange. The second has the circle of yellow/orange as their own halves of the quilt. I may switch out the yellow for green - the yellow is very washed out.

Mom's Tennessee Waltz:

16/25 stars

18/24 snowballs

1.5 rows pieced

It's nice to have a project where layout doesn't matter. I can piece the rows while I finish the four-patches for the last star blocks or the corners on the snowballs. By the time I piece the last block, the quilt will be almost completely together.

Untouched This Week:

Chunky Log Cabin

Frolicking Pinwheels

Awaiting Quilting:

Bad Romance

Layer Cake Quilt Along

Hunter's Star

In Planning:

Cars Quilt (the Dude)

Hunter's Star (my sister)

New Projects: 0

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 10

Check out more at Work in Progress Wednesday!

Fifteen Minute Challenge - Week 2 - & LQS Saturday Sampler Block 7

Thanks to the 15 Minute Challenge, I got the borders on the Steelers Quilt painlessly! If I had tackled it in one day, it would have been more than an hour and very frustrating with all those HST seams. Bit by bit worked much better.

I also pieced my Saturday Sampler block from August during the first fifteen minutes of my sewing day. I still had some seam ripping, but it didn't seem as painful because I could catch my mistakes sooner when I checked it after fifteen minutes.

Well, most of my mistakes. The bottom is correct, with the green and purple HSTs alternating. The top, where they don't, is wrong. Argh! So I have some more picking to do.

See how others are managing their time at Life in Pieces and check out more BOMs at What A Hoot!

Design Wall Monday - Week 36

I've been working on two different projects this week.

On the wall, Sunkissed Jewel Boxes.

I need to fiddle around with the color placement, and I think I'm going to ditch the last row. 6x6 is more symmetrical for this layout, and the extra blocks will look nice in the back.

On the floor, the Tennessee Waltz:

I have about 30/49 blocks done, and I think I really nailed the color placement. I can't wait to make my own - this one is going to my mother for her 60th birthday.

Check out more design walls at Patchwork Times!

Sunday Stash Report - Week 36

I finally got the last border on the Steelers Quilt! Although I counted most of the top out when I finished that, so I just get to count the last border.
I also mailed off four giveaway fat quarters. Enhancing someone else's stash report!

My LQS gives you 15% off for your birthday, so I picked up...almost nothing. I guess that's what happens when your birthday is so close to Fat Quarter Frenzy. I grabbed two yards of my favorite neutral, a half yard of the neutral in my Tennessee Waltz quilt, the panel for my Saturday Sampler, and the next sampler block. The panel says Mother, Daughter, Sister and Grandmother - it'll be pieced into the backing.

Used this Week: 1.88

Used Year to Date: 92.85

Added this Week: 3.42

Added Year to Date: 139.62

Net Used for 2011: (46.77) yards

Check out how everyone else is doing on Patchwork Times! Judy's challenging us to set a higher goal in the last four months of the year. I'd like to get into the black, so that means busting a little more than half of what I've busted in eight months. (Assuming no new purchases...)

In addition, my husband and I started a pay-per-mile running program. Run a mile, get a dollar - his for computer games, mine for fabric. Luckily, we made the deal on Wednesday, the day after I picked up my neutrals. So now I really have to earn each yard...or work from my stash.

Steelers Top - Finished!

Finally! I finished the top and first two borders in May... Bought the third border and backing in June... And then ignored it all summer.

I'm glad I went for the third border - those tiny HSTs were a pain to sew along and would have been awful if I were binding on them. Now I have a nice clean edge to work with.

It measures 55x65" and I have a minkee back all ready to go. Love minkee on this size quilt - it's 60" wide so I don't have to piece it.

I won't be basting or quilting till after Labor Day, though - my husband still thinks it should be a surprise!

All I Want For Christmas...

...is my two front teeth!

He knocked one out and the other loose at school by hitting them on a table. (His situational awareness is...off...) The second tooth was barely hanging on and didn't survive dinner.

We whipped together a quick tooth fairy pillow - his first two lost teeth were truly lost, so these were the first that needed to be delivered to the Tooth Fairy.

He picked the fabric and picture.

I traced, cut, sewed and stuffed.

And the Tooth Fairy delivered.

{Yes, he has vintage Return of the Jedi sheets. I told you we're Star Wars freaks.}

Fabric is leftover Fruitcake charms by Basic Grey. Tooth is from here.