Weekly Progress - The Wedding

This is a few days late because I am still hungover was traveling, doing laundry, and all the other stuff that comes with a weekend away at an awesome wedding.

The wedding {including my quilt squares} went off without a hitch, but pictures are delayed due to some computer issues. And the stuff taken with my phone is not worthy of posting. And since I'm having a zillion errors as I try to write this, let's just save the wedding for later, mmkay?

Finished!

 {How Charming - Quilt in a Day}

Okay, Yoda was finished last week, but Yoda on a hanger isn't near as adorable as Yoda on a little boy who isn't taking it off.

Like it he does.

In Progress

Two panels of the Creeper costume. Still a little unsure on how this will work, but I'm plowing ahead anyway.

{Swoon - Thimbleblossoms}

Is that a quilted Swoon? Why yes, yes it is. Stay tuned!

Linked:

Fifteen Minute Challenge @ Life In Pieces
Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times
BOMs Away Monday @ What A Hoot
WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced
Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story
Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ SoScrappy
Scrap Basket Sunday @ Kim's Big Quilting Adventure

How Charming - Twin Boy Versions - Finished!

Hey, it's a repeat of last week! Only a little different.

{How Charming - Quilt in a Day}

Honestly, I can't say enough good things about this pattern. It's EASY, it makes efficient use of fabric, and it looks good. I could easily bust into my Christmas and Halloween stashes to make a couple more versions.

I really love that these are the exact same quilts {Meadow Friends/Deb Strain and Grow With Me/Deb Strain & Daughters, plus a couple random charms because I can't count} but since I used a bright aqua for one background and muted green for the other, they look like different quilts.

Since these are long-armed-quilts #3 & 4, I wanted to expand my expertise. {Ha!} So my mentor picked out a slightly harder panto, while telling me I'm really ready to let go of the tracing. {Ha!}

My swirls at the bottom were much more controlled and nicer looking. And I do feel like I developed some muscle memory...even though I did get lost along the panto a couple times.

And oh.my.minkee back! Don't you just want to TOUCH that?

These are going to my husband's cousin, who just had {duh} twin boys.

They measure 46" square.

Linked:

Whoop Whoop @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict

TGIFF @ Quilt Matters

Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Link A Finish Friday @ Richard and Tanya Quilts

Finish-A-Long @ She Can Quilt {FAL List}
Let's Make Baby Quilts @ Michelle's Romantic Tangle

Weekly Progress - Ahead of Schedule

It's feels so nice to write these and actually have significant progress to share! This coming week is D-Day - wedding weekend - so there will be less progress. 

But I had a couple things that needed to go with us to the wedding, so I got them crossed off the list this week. As in, it's Monday and everything that needs to go with me on Thursday is already done. Yes. Be amazed.

Finished!

{How Charming - Quilt in a Day}

Yoda robe for my cousin's son. I used this tutorial and it took less than 45 minutes. Probably because I used fleece and didn't hem a darn thing. He already has the rest of the costume. {Whew. No idea how to sew Yoda's ears!}

Almost Finished!

Twin Boys How Charming - quilted together on the same backing, now cut apart and ready for binding.

Progress

{Need a design wall so I'm not laying things out over a car rug.}

Rainbow Boats - which probably needs a better name... Rainbow is cut out and pinned down. I actually used a Hotwheels track to define the curve, in an unlikely assist. It's going to the wedding so the customer can look it over before I fuse anything down.

Slowly but surely, the creeper costume is coming together. Right now it's the leader/ender project.

I even started cleaning up the sewing room and putting away some of the stuff that piled up from working on too many projects at once. Yeah. This is disturbing me, too.

If I finish my projects for the week {bind How Charming x2, piece Swoon back, find cotton candy} AND pack, I might just reward myself by cutting into my husband's old flight suit for a messenger bag. Wait, how is it a reward to do something I'm terrified to do?

Linked:

Fifteen Minute Challenge @ Life In Pieces
Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times
BOMs Away Monday @ What A Hoot
WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced
Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story
Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ SoScrappy
Scrap Basket Sunday @ Kim's Big Quilting Adventure

How Charming - Girl Version - Finished!

Oh, yeah, guess who's rocketing through the finishes now that she has access to a long-arm?

{How Charming - Quilt in a Day}

I made this one to test out my counting skills before making the twin boy versions of it.

{And I still counted wrong. Oh well.}

It's a really easy pattern - I put it together in under two hours, including trimming.

I used two charm packs of Meadow Friends {Deb Strain} and one pack of Grow With Me {Deb Strain & Daughters} - pulling all the girl fabrics, obviously.

The pink solid and purple dots are from JoAnn. The backing is from Golden D'Or in Dallas, and has been sitting in my stash for a few years. The binding is also something from the scrap bin - no idea on the origin.

And despite binding H is for Henry first, this was my very first long-arm quilting. {With a panto.} Just loops and hearts, but they are pretty good! I'm trying to build up muscle memory before venturing into freehand. {Totally not because I'm terrified of freehand.}

35x44"

I linked the top to 100 Quilts for Kids a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was going to Project Linus, but I found Blessings Under the Bridge in my local community, and they are currently doing a blanket drive, so it's going there.

Linked:

Whoop Whoop @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict

TGIFF @ Quilt Matters

Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Link A Finish Friday @ Richard and Tanya Quilts

Finish-A-Long @ She Can Quilt {FAL List}
Let's Make Baby Quilts @ Michelle's Romantic Tangle

Weekly Progress - Bits and Pieces

I had a lot of little progress on a variety of projects this week - trying to balance projects that need to get done in the near future. But since I'm crossing things off the list rapidly, I think it's working okay. For now. Until I realize I can't find the top of my cutting table again.

Finished!

{H is for Henry - Art to Heart}

Worked on:

{Flirt Marks the Spot - McCall's Quilting Magazine}

Pieced all the rows. Now to put them together...eventually...when I have time...

{How Charming - Quilt in a Day}

Pieced all the blocks for the twin boy versions, started assembling.

The second set of blocks - I used the same charm packs but changed the outside of the on-point blocks. They both have quilting scheduled for Wednesday, so I need to get a move on the assembly!

Creeper Costume - started piecing the strip sets

All the blocks prepped for my sister's wedding quilt! Which she doesn't want called the boring "wedding quilt #1." Any suggestions?

Rainbow Boats - pieced the boats/background. The top will be filled with an applique sun and rainbow, but I needed the bottom done for scale. I've got my fusible web ready for sketching in between piecing the twin quilts.

The girl How Charming quilt is quilted, but not yet bound.

{Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Rebecca Barker Quiltscapes}

And finally, finished the baby blue scrap blocks, and cut/pieced scraps from Henry's quilt immediately. This month is grey/black, which is my sashing, so I will probably going to ignore the assigned color and catch up on the months I'm behind.

What's not on the list? St. Paul's Cross. Ugh. I know, I already failed at four blocks a week. I'm trying to get a few deadline things done before my sister's wedding, so it got pushed to the back burner. Hopefully I'll get back to it soon and not wait another two years!

Linked:

Fifteen Minute Challenge @ Life In Pieces
Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times
BOMs Away Monday @ What A Hoot
WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced
Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story
Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ SoScrappy
Scrap Basket Sunday @ Kim's Big Quilting Adventure

Weekly Progress - Selfish Sewing Week

This past week was "Selfish Sewing Week" hosted by Imagine Gnats and Made with Moxie. I didn't really have time for true selfishness, but I used it as an excuse to put aside St. Paul's Cross for a week and just sew on whatever other project I felt like.

And after plodding through eight-blocks-a-week, it feels good to post all this.

{H is for Henry - Art to Heart}

Applique finished, borders on, backing purchased, quilting time scheduled.

BOO-YAH.

{How Charming - Quilt in a Day}

More like Quilt in an Hour. Easy peasy pattern. I made it in girl prints first to test my math skills - I have three charm packs and three quilts to make, so I'm not quite following any of the given sizes of the pattern. And a good thing I tested - I miscounted the needed charms, so the twin boy versions will be smaller, but with added borders.

The twin boy versions are an order from my mother-in-law. The girl version will go to Project Linus, squeaking in just under the wire for 100 Quilts for Kids. It'll be first up in the quilting time scheduled for later this week.

Speaking of quilting time - so the Fifteen Minute Challenge this month was learn something new. {I know I've mentioned it once or twice.} Paper piecing and applique weren't quite new, but required a bit of relearning since I don't do them often.

This was my brand new skill for the month. Long arming! There's a place in town that rents time on their machines, and my husband is a big fan of "try before you buy a $10k machine."

{Just kidding. There's no way he's buying me one.}

I loved it. I mean, it's terrifying. Those machines are huge and they can whip across a quilt fast. But as someone who was tried and tried and tried at free-motion on my home machine, it was wonderful. I'm not at all anywhere near perfect, but my first attempts with a panto were huge strides beyond my attempts at home.

{Mine are the middle flowers. The perfect ones on the left and right are my instructor's.}

My freehand is still a little shaky - and I hate chalk; it disappears in seconds with all that vibration. I'll definitely be marking my quilts at home with a marker in advance once I get the confidence to go free hand.

{Wedding Quilt}

And in unfinished projects, another pile of my sister's wedding quilt blocks, taped to cardstock and ready to go.

{Flirt Marks the Spot - McCall's Quilting Magazine}

Another couple of blocks added to rows.

{Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Rebecca Barker Quiltscapes}

All that piecing led to lots of leaders/enders becoming blocks.

{Swoon - Thimble Blossoms}

And in my most selfish sewing, I started piecing the back of Swoon. And it's a top-super-secret until the Blogger's Quilt Festival, so this is all you get.

Whew. Nice week, huh? I decided I'm going to try to piece four St. Paul blocks each week, freeing up time for other things so it doesn't get paper-piecing-tedious as fast. It'll take five weeks to finish, but I'm still on track for a Christmas finish. {Since I've missed her birthday and dissertation submission.}

Linked:

Fifteen Minute Challenge @ Life In Pieces
Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times
BOMs Away Monday @ What A Hoot
WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced
Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story
Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ SoScrappy
Scrap Basket Sunday @ Kim's Big Quilting Adventure