Work in Progress Wednesday - Week 22

Checking things of the list this week, big time.

Christmas Kaleidoscope? Done.

Charming Wildflowers? Quilted. Getting bound today. Maybe... I can't decide if I need to add quilting along the solid boxes. I wanted the current quilting because it adds dimension to the borders, but now I've lost the definition of the blocks - they were supposed to look like flowers within the solid boxes, not next to.

iSpy Sliced Coin Quilt? Quilted. Okay, again, mostly. I need to decide how to fill in this empty space at the top and bottom. I'm thinking just chevrons rather than continuing the lines to make diamonds. That way the biggest diamond in the center stands out.

Doll quilts? Quilted, waiting to be bound.

The chunky log cabin is in a mish-mash of stages that I need to sort out.

Untouched This Week:

Steelers Quilt

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: 1

In Progress: 11

Check out more at Work in Progress Wednesday!

Sunday Stash Report - Week 32

This week was a wash, but next week won't be.

I bought three yards of green flannel to back my iSpy Sliced Coins quilt - and it's already pieced and ready to be basted.

I finished the Christmas Kaleidoscope quilt. The top was counted last week; there was 2.5 yards in the back and a half yard in the borders.

I also pieced the back of Charming Wildflowers, but I don't count backs out until the quilting is done. That and iSpy will be quilted by the end of this week - I have a plan for both and they shouldn't take too long.

Used this Week: 3

Used Year to Date: 84.68

Added this Week: 3

Added Year to Date: 134.2

Net Used for 2011: (49.52) yards

Check out how everyone else is doing on Patchwork Times!

Christmas Kaleidoscope - Finished!

Warning: picture heavy post.

Because I love this quilt.

The pattern is Don't Call Me Betsy's Kaleidoscope Quilt Along.

The fabrics are...well, the solid is Kona Bone. The rest is Christmas scraps - I know there's some Crazy Eights, Merry & Bright, red snowflakes from Hobby Lobby, blue snowflakes from Joann's, a lot of the greens are from a Rag Shop fat quarter pack that my mother bought 10+ years ago, some of the holly is "Country Classics Christmas by Ameritex" which I think dates to the 1990s (thrift store!)

The burgundy snowmen, I do remember. I bought that at a little store near the base in Washington when I first started sewing. I found out a couple years later that the Buggy Barn isn't just some little store.

The quilting made a huge difference with this quilt. I hated that all the points wouldn't line up, but quilting on either side of the seams made the centers not look that bad.

And oh my goodness, I love how it looks on the back. I wish I had used more red to show it off more.

Look! Little stars!

 The back uses some bigger pieces from my Christmas stash - the big chunks are the Ameritex fabrics.

It measures 60x60" and is bound in, um, two green fat quarters from the Rag Shop. Maybe.

Work in Progress Wednesday - Week 21

Been working on several little things here and there, in between quilting the Christmas Kaleidoscope.

 I'm quilting double lines just off ditch. So far I've finished the horizontal and I'm going to finish the vertical today. It's going to be pretty cool in the middle there with all the lines crossing.

I picked out a hummingbird to applique on Charming Wildflowers. I'm going to use the same green for the wings and different pinks/reds for the throat.

Speaking of pinks and reds, I'm making doll blankets for my neighbor's kids. We've been friends through two assignments - the Dude and their oldest daughter were in baby swim class in Washington together five years ago! But they're going to the Guard and moving in a couple weeks, so I'm adding borders to these little blocks I made with the scraps of my Bad Romance quilt.

And I started a chunky log cabin. I have one more blue I'm considering adding, along with the red from the center.

Untouched This Week:

Steelers Quilt

Frolicking Pinwheels

 

Awaiting Quilting:

Bad Romance

Layer Cake Quilt Along

Hunter's Star

iSpy Sliced Coin Quilt

In Planning:

Cars Quilt (the Dude)

Hunter's Star (my sister)

New Projects: 1

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 12

Check out more at Work in Progress Wednesday!

Christmas in July - Week 5

I'm having one of THOSE weeks.

The AC broke - twice. 

{It's only been over 100º every day for over a month. No biggie.}

At the hotel on Sunday, I couldn't connect to the internet, but something sure managed to infect the laptop anyway. So now I'm erasing the hard drive. And poor Nettie the Netbook is STILL at the repair shop. 

{Three people + 1 PC = arguments over whose turn it is to play Plants vs. Zombies.}

The DVR broke twice, the Keurig has been short-cupping me...

So, basically, not much sewing this week.

Christmas Kaleidoscope is done because I cut the borders wrong. I pieced the backing and mopped the kitchen floor in preparation for basting. I even have a plan for the quilting!

The center of Christmas Stars is pieced. I finally ordered fabric for the borders, too.

Er, I'm going to have to find a picture to trace onto this, because I forgot that I can NOT draw.

So since this is the last Friday in July, the summary is...
1 quilt pieced/basted
1.75 wall hangings pieced
1 table runner pieced

And now it's almost time for Quilting August!

Work in Progress Wednesday - Week 20

This week, the major WIP has been the air conditioner. :(

This was Sunday; it was fixed Monday; it briefly went down to 76 on Tuesday; died again Tuesday night. Today, it's already 86 inside and 92 outside, at 9 am, and it's supposed to reach 110. I'm praying the repairman gets here on the early side of "mid-morning."

Needless to say, the sewing machine and the iron are not on until this is fixed. My sister was here last weekend, so I didn't get much sewing done beyond basting a dress for her.

Luckily the Dude was cleared by his tonsil doctor to go to day camp, so he's safely in the air conditioned kids' museum while I sweat.

I screwed up cutting enough border fabric for the Christmas Kaleidoscope, so it's going to be borderless. I started piecing the back together using leftover yardage from my stash.

I finished one more Frolicking Pinwheels as a leader/ender.

Untouched This Week:

Steelers Quilt 

 

Awaiting Quilting:

Bad Romance

Layer Cake Quilt Along

Hunter's Star

iSpy Sliced Coin Quilt

Charming Wildflowers

In Planning:

Cars Quilt (the Dude)

Hunter's Star (my sister)

New Projects: 0

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 11

Check out more at Work in Progress Wednesday!

Christmas in July - Week 4

Several finishes or nearly finished this week!

The Kaleidoscope Quilt-Along is nearly finished. I have one border cut, and I'm going to add a second border of the red holly berries.

 I made the blocks for this in my quilting basics class two years ago, and just needed to fix the borders and iron the poor thing. Not that hard to do as leaders/enders for a day.

Haven't made any progress on Christmas Stars - my LQS's fat quarter sale is tomorrow, so I will either find something there or order the sashing tomorrow.

And I haven't had a chance to sketch out any embroidery on the table runner I made last week, but I did get a book on embroidery techniques from the library. I'm not in a hurry - I have a long car ride in August to stitch.

One more week to clear off my Christmas project shelf!

Work in Progress Wednesday - Week 19

I have a finish, woo!

Well, a piecing finish. I'm adding applique hummingbirds to the corners.

Christmas Kaleidoscope is mostly pieced and on the floor. Which means...

Time for a cat inspection!

I just need to piece the fourth row, then the rows, then the borders.

I have a couple other Christmas in July projects finished/in the works.

I pulled out Frolicking Pinwheels out for leaders/enders. 

I've also been doing some organizing.

 All my scraps are sorted and labeled. The other stuff is vintage sheets and pillowcases, or my horribly disorganized clothing fabric. That's my next task now that my quilting stash is in order!

The boxing and labeling extended to the playroom. Why do we need a 16-quart bin of Play-doh supplies??

Untouched This Week:

Steelers Quilt 

 

Awaiting Quilting:

Bad Romance

Layer Cake Quilt Along

Hunter's Star

iSpy Sliced Coin Quilt

I think my goal for August will be to quilt this pile. Less fun than Christmas in July, but necessary!

In Planning:

Cars Quilt (the Dude)

Hunter's Star (my sister)

New Projects: 0

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 11

Check out more at Work in Progress Wednesday!

Design Wall Monday - Week 29

Finishing up the Christmas Kaleidoscope.

There's another row below and another to go on the side, but I ran out of room.

Everything needs to be squared to 12.5" unfinished before getting sewn together.

Hmm, I need to move one of those red/whites in the fourth row - three in a row isn't very scrappy.

I already have one of the borders cut, so this should finish up quickly. Which is good, since my sister is coming at the end of the week to help entertain the tonsillectomy patient, and she won't let me use the sewing machine while she's here. (Except to make her a dress.)

See more design walls at Patchwork Times!

Christmas in July - Week 3

Finished the table runner. Well, finished it to the point of embroidery. I'm thinking, since I made it longer than the original, about sketching a tree branch from which they can be "hanging." Just to fill in the white space a bit.

Christmas Kaleidoscope - not quite full blocks yet - but close!

No progress with Christmas Stars - I have fabric to finish it in an online shopping cart, but I'm thinking about waiting for my LQS's fat quarter sale next week.

And the next project?

This is my basic quilt class table topper from two years ago. All I need to do is continue to rip out the center seam, line it up properly and resew it, then add the borders. And press it. Geez, it looks like it's been crumpled in a bag for two years.

Work in Progress Wednesday - Week 18

My little dude had his tonsils out late last week, so this week has been a mix of lots of snuggling on the couch and lots of sewing time during 4 hour naps. He's eating solid food again and whining about his medicine, so I think he's on the mend.

Charming Wildflowers is close to being pieced. Next I have to decide on border(s). And I have no idea what to do there.
I'm thinking about pulling a couple of the blue/white charms, putting them in opposing corners, and appliqueing a hummingbird drinking from them. But what color border? Both the blue and the pink are along the edge...

Still plugging along on the Kaleidoscope Quilt Along. Can't wait to finish up all the blocks and see them up on the design wall!

I have a couple other Christmas in July projects in the works. 

Untouched This Week:

Frolicking Pinwheels

Steelers Quilt (though I pulled the border fabric out last night)

Awaiting Quilting:
...I think I need to bust out the walking foot soon...

Bad Romance

Layer Cake Quilt Along

Hunter's Star

iSpy Sliced Coin Quilt

In Planning:

Cars Quilt (the Dude)

Hunter's Star (my sister)

New Projects: 0

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 11

Check out more at Work in Progress Wednesday!

Christmas in July - Week 2

I finished the five stars for my Christmas Stars, and decided that instead of the setting of the original quilt, I was going to set them with the second block from this quilt. So I sewed the strip-sets and four-patches for that...just need to pick a solid.

I still have a ton of charms leftover, including all the skaters. I can't bear to cut them. I'm thinking about cutting the remaining charms into strips and doing a piano key border. Or maybe piecing them together for the back.

The kaleidoscope is coming along nicely. I'm piecing the wedges together - by next week it'll be finished blocks.

My next project is a little table runner from Pieces From My Heart. Yeah, it's been in my stash for a while. I bought it when we lived in Washington, saw that it had (gasp!) embroidery and shoved it on a shelf for a while. I need to count charms to see if I can make it at least one ornament longer.

Work in Progress Wednesday - Week 17

While I was on vacation, I finished Manassas Railroad.

 

Charming Wildflowers is back to being a leader/ender project and slowly coming together. (That row in the middle is missing because it's on the machine right now.)

My Kaleidoscope Quilt Along is coming along nicely. I have a small pile of wedges that still need triangles, and a whole bunch to press, before the next set of instructions come out tomorrow.

I'm also working on a couple other Christmas in July projects. 

Untouched This Week:

Frolicking Pinwheels

Steelers Quilt

Awaiting Quilting:

Bad Romance

Layer Cake Quilt Along

Hunter's Star

iSpy Sliced Coin Quilt

In Planning:

Cars Quilt (the Dude)

Hunter's Star (my sister)

New Projects: 1

Completed Projects: 1

In Progress: 11

Check out more at Work in Progress Wednesday!

Design Wall Monday - Week 27

Testing my kaleidoscope layout for the quilt-along.

I like how the solid separates the scrappiness enough that it's not chaotic.

Merry Christmas! Er, I mean, happy Independence Day!

Check out more design walls at Patchwork Times!

Christmas in July - Week 1

The Kaleidoscope quilt along is coming along well. I'm making one row less than Elizabeth's design, because I'm tired of cutting I like square quilts. I picked up Kona Bone for the solid.

My second Christmas in July project is a star quilt based on this tutorial. I have four 12 Days of Christmas (Kate Spain, Moda) charm packs to use.

I thought there would be more dark fabrics to make the stars stand out, but there's not much value difference in the blues and greens, as the B&W photo shows. I'm going to do the star points in the red/cream and the centers in the blue/green, so hopefully it will still work.

Moda Bake Shop is also doing Christmas in July - check out past and present ideas!

Quilting on Main Street is hosting a Christmas in July Quilt Along - see what others are up to this month!

Christmas in July

So... Don't Call Me Betsy is hosting a Kaleidoscope Quilt Along. I started contemplating fabrics immediately (despite not being quite done with my last DCMB-QA.)

I'll be on vacation when it starts, so I'll be doing it entirely in July. Which led immediately to the thought...

Christmas in July!

 It starts June 23 so plenty of time to join in!