Weekly Progress - Tape(r)

Tape and taper contributed a lot to this week.

On my quilty finishes, I tried out batting tape. Usually I franken-batt with a zig zag stitch, but I wanted to try the tape to see if it was faster/better. Also because I just had to get that little triangle in place.

Verdict: eh. No faster. Feels like it's holding just as "strong." Kind of a pain to wrestle batting on the ironing board vs. through the sewing machine. {Note: I do have CC trying to claw her way up anything draped over the ironing board. YMMV.}

The taper led to an epic finish - knocking nearly ten minutes off my personal record.

And the taper also led to lots being done in the sewing room, since I was full of nervous energy and couldn't run it off.

Finished

Owl Always Love You

Quilted

Road to Oklahoma - Washington Style

Working on the binding!

{Those are bow ties...not butts.}

Four Patch Frenzy

Don't even have binding for it yet. I took it to my long arm rental time as a backup, if-I-still-have-time thing. And then Flirt didn't happen, so I had time. Which makes me sad! Somehow I totally misjudged my backing for Flirt, so I couldn't quilt it. Planning on getting a new back and going back tomorrow! And maybe getting some binding for Frenzy. Eh.

Piecing

Obviously I finished piecing Road to OK - that was a biggie.

After that was done, I worked on borders for Central Park Sudoku.

And a churn dash of the week - this leftover from Big Blue, my largest quilt ever, was an obvious finish for the month of dark blues.

And here's the four blues together!

{Don't mind the feet. The feet wouldn't move. Neither would CC.}
Then I pulled out another UFO, Cat Tails, pieced together the last few cats, and worked on the layout. It exceeds my design wall by a bit, but I think I have a plan worked out.

And some Celtic Solstice leader/enders. I need to do some pressing and shuffle these pieces into blocks!

Linked:

BOMs Away Monday @ What A Hoot

Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times

WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced

Linky Tuesday @ Freemotion by the River

Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ SoScrappy

Scrap Basket Sunday @ Kim's Big Quilting Adventure

Owl Always Love You - Finished!

Pardon me - there's going to be some owl puns in this post.

It'll be a hoot.

I promise.

This is the Simply Stripes baby quilt by Amy Smart. And whoooo knew? It definitely lives up to its name - I whipped it together in a couple hours.

I fudged the measurements a little - my fat quarters weren't quite 22" so my blocks ended up 10" finished. I shrank the stripes a smidge, too - mine were 5.25/2/1.5/3.25" unfinished.

Best part of this tutorial? Very few seams to match {just in the rowing} and no bulky seams to press. I took the time and alternated pressing within each row {normally I just do all row one to the left, all row two to the right, and onwards.} Then I spun the block seams, and v-owl-a, no bulk anywhere!

Quilted it with big, easy loops. Because I'm lazy I wanted to echo the loops in the fabric. And it's a baby quilt - it should be soft and loose.

New this year - I'm labeling quilts. It only took me five years to get to the point that I want people to know they're mine. Lyn {from What a Hoot...I swear, that's not a pun!} pinned a whole bunch of cute labels, and I was inspired to do a little more. So there's little owls poking their heads out.

And yes, I know there's nothing written on the label. I added that after pictures, rather than trying to edit out the info.

The fabric is a FQ set that I won from the Fabric Spot during the Finish-Owl-long last year. Riley Blake - Life in the Jungle

I didn't think owls hung out in jungles with toucans and hedgehogs, but what do I know?

CC, of course, helped bind.

The backing is an orange chevron flann-owl from Joann's. Binding is more of the FQs. I used up almost all of the eight-piece set to make this.

And now it is off to a baby shower this weekend!

After one measly half marathon, that is.

Owl be seeing you!

Linked:

Whoop Whoop @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict

TGIFF @ Quilty Habit

Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Link A Finish Friday @ Richard and Tanya Quilts
Let's Make Baby Quilts @ Michelle's Romantic Tangle
Sew Darn Crafty @ Sew Many Ways
Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story
Finish-Along @ The Littlest Thistle {FAL List}

Weekly Progress - HSTs

Somehow I got stuck trimming down bunches of HSTs this week. And I bounced around on a couple different projects - product of not being in the sewing room for a couple weeks. You'd think I'd chose something that doesn't involve so much trimming!

The final layout for Celtic Solstice has been revealed! And I'm changing it. I prefer the stars from the chevrons this way over the boxes in the original design.

CC is delightful, as always.

More HSTs in the Road to Oklahoma {Washington style} quilt. All the four patches are made, all the HST are sewn but not trimmed. I'm working through it a block at a time, trying to get all the seams turned the right way so that everything nests up nicely.

And look, I got a design wall! Just need a place to hang it up. So that CC can tear it down.

AND {obviously I missed sewing over the holidays} I finished off the baby owls top early last week. Backing is purchased, binding is prepped...and the baby shower isn't for a couple weeks! I just have to schedule some longarm time once I have a couple more things to quilt.

AND {I know, right?} I decided on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge for this year. I'm going with sweet and simple churn dashes and showcasing some of my favorite scraps. This is the border from my Layer Cake Quilt Along which was made with one of my all-time favorite lines.

AND {seriously} since I had the blue bin out, I cut out the squares for the chevron baby quilt. Then I cut some Kona Bone. Then I sewed them. Then I ran sprints, and in between each mile repeat, I cut them apart and trimmed.

Now I have this! And the knowledge that I can run four miles at sprint pace. With a breather in between.

And because I'm not allowed to work on the new without a bit of the old, I'm slowly sewing together Flirt. There's a LOT of seams to be matched up, so I can only handle two or so in a row. But I should be done this week and then it's time to decide on a border!

Linked:

BOMs Away Monday @ What A Hoot

Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times
WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced
Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story
Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ SoScrappy

Scrap Basket Sunday @ Kim's Big Quilting Adventure

Celtic Solstice @ Quiltville

Sew Darn Crafty @ Sew Many Ways

End of Month Report - December

Another month with a pile of finishes. It's interesting how much access to a longarm has changed things around here. I think I just seriously dislike getting on my knees to baste.

Finished

{Wow. I have a huge variety of camera angle shots.}

Loopy Ewe / Nine Patch Snowballs / Squadron T-Shirt Quilt

Quilted

Christmas Stars / table runners and pillow covers / Frolicking Pinwheels

I haven't cut any of these apart yet, or started binding/pillow-envelope-ing, but I will. Soon.

Pieced

Finished a pillow cover with my Swoon HST leftovers.

Finished off a top for a baby shower gift for the end of the month. It'll be quilted once the kiddo goes back to school. And I already have the backing and binding prepped!

Piecing

I'm counting this as my NewFO - Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt by Bonnie Hunter. I'm not using scraps - I pulled my favorite blue from my stash and bought some excellent complimentary fabrics.

Oh yes, she's Bountiful in her gifts: Sassy, Lovely, a bit Grunge-y, somewhat of a Coquette...

And I picked the border fabric already and it will all fit together perfectly. But the name on that will have to wait until the mystery reveal!

Life

Okay, so...some big news. Our Emigration Permit for the Little Man was approved, AND our paperwork was submitted to court!! After quite a long wait, we are finally in the end game - we have a 3-4 week wait for a court date to be assigned, which will be about 5-8 weeks out from there. But not necessarily, so we are tidying things up in a hurry here.

{I need to start his foster mom's quilt! And his!!}

The Dude is doing well - still obsessed with Doctor Who and Minecraft. We got matching shirts for Christmas...which we wore for the Christmas show. He rocks the multiplication tables.

{CC thinks Nerf darts are the best Christmas present ever!}

We had a good Christmas, enjoyed the in-laws, got most of the presents we wanted. CC is still a pain in the butt...just bigger now. If she grows into her tail, Tycho's going to be in trouble.

I pounded the pavement hard this month, logging 70 running miles - plus bike cross training and body torture conditioning classes. I'm doing this training plan, and I'm pretty confident in hitting my goal pace. 

And I registered for Half Fanatics! I qualified back in March, but Lori and I wanted consecutive numbers. So as soon as she finally qualified, we registered as #5871 and #5872. Yeah, we're dorks.

And that's about it for December. 

Linked:

Nothing But UFOs
A Year of Finishes
Year of the Finished Project

Fresh Sewing Day @ Lily's Quilts

NewFO @ Cat Patches

Weekly Progress - And a Happy New Year!

I'm continuing the trend of not much work over the holidays - while my mother-in-law polished off 4.5 pairs of flannel jammie pants at my machine. And she put all the scraps in my bins! Guess who's getting a flannel rag quilt next Christmas?

This Christmas, she got a Kindle, so I whipped together a case for her. She left a big bag of batik fat quarters and scraps here after Rainbow Sherbet, so it was pretty easy to pick out three fabrics from there and pull it together. I just cut an outside and lining to fit, with an added outside pocket for her glasses and stylus. And many layers of heavy duty interfacing.

I might buy a pack of hair elastics and replace the button-y-thing-y next time she's here...I don't love the white elastic.

And I know her initials are crooked...dang embroidery hoop slipped.

{I have got to do something about the lack of design WALL soon!}

I laid out the blocks for the baby owl quilt in a mostly-symmetrical-but-looks-random pattern. All ready to become rows sometime this week!

And I mostly kept up with Celtic Solstice. I'm worried that my yellow {an ombre stripe} is too pale in places, and now that it's against the neutral...I'm still worried. We'll see how it looks overall.

I also worked on cutting pieces for Ripples and Reflection. It will be my BOM for the year, so my goal for January is to get all the fabrics cut and organized.

Oh, and you know how I mentioned eleven projects in my NewFOs for 2014, with one spot open for whatever pops up during the year? Um, yeah... Mother-in-law and I went to Bear Paw Quilting, and I was utterly smitten by the Downton Abbey fabrics. I don't even watch the show! 

I bought this pattern, which is done up all pretty in DA fabrics, but I think I'm going to change it a smidge, and try it out on my Pat Bravo stash. Then if I'm very good...maybe I'll get some DA.

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

Celtic Solstice @ Quiltville

Weekly Progress - Pile o' Finished Quilts

Before you get too used to all this production, my husband was out of town last week, and the Dude doesn't care if we have chicken quesadillas for dinner. Every night.

Oh, and giveaway day post is up.

So, we start with a stack of bound quilts. Squadron T-shirt quilt has already been posted about, and then there's Loopy Ewe and the Nine Patch Snowball. Posts coming soon. Imagine that, I have to play catch up on finished posts!

And then I made the blocks for a baby shower gift, using this pattern and a stack of FQs that I won from Fabric Spot during the Finish-Along last quarter. And the baby shower isn't even until the end of January!

And then I bit the bullet and picked up some yardage to go with my Lovely blue for the Celtic Solstice mystery. I think the neutral is too bright, though.

These are my blocks so far, since I haven't cut into the neutral. Yes, I am doing the second step as HST instead. I calculated it out and there's less waste this way, even with the extra seam.

And in gratuitous kitten pictures, we put up the Christmas tree. It went about as well as you'd expect.

Today I'm prepping my quilting for this week - all the table runners, wall hangings, pillow covers, and potholders I can find, all slapped down on a big piece of muslin and batting scraps.

And then a day of doll dresses and I'll be done for December!

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

Celtic Solstice @ Quiltville