January 30, 2014

Glad to see January come to an end! Hoping for more "winter" like weather in February. I finished my "Wall of Shame" quilt. There were a few hiccups along the way, one of which involved my dog, Storm. It seems I left my silk thread unattended too long.

They look so innocent, don't they?

I am also making good progress on the lollipops.

One project that will take a bit more time is the clamshell quilt. I need to sew stabilizer onto 600 pieces.

Kathy reminds me that this is a journey. :)

January 27, 2014

Busy weekend topped off by watching my very talented grandson, Tyler, perform with his musical theatre group! Not so much sewing time though but I have made progress on the lollipops.

Those very long strips are cross cut to 6 1/2 inch pieces here.

These have been sewn 1/4 inch with right sides together to form the point and waiting on my ironing board to be pressed.

Ready to be trimmed and sewn together.

Loving the fabric and the process!

Had to give Kelsey, my newfie, equal time.

January 23, 2014

Yesterday I started cutting and piecing the Christmas Lollipops quilt from Fig Tree quilts by Joanna Figueroa. I love her designs and fabric!

This is a photo of the finished quilt.

Here is the start!

Today I went to Galyna and picked up four quilts which need binding made and sewn. Hopefully I will get a start this weekend.

This is Storm, my Great Pyrenees. He is not really helping, but he does keep me company.

Strips sewn together for Dresden plates.

Starting a new quilt may be the best part!

January 21, 2014

Finished the strawberry quilt top this morning while watching the snow. I will show you how it changes with adding borders.

Now I need to decide whether to bind this one in white, pink or green. What do you think?

Going to start reading direction for the Star Struck quilt kit I bought in the pre-Christmas frenzy from Fig Tree Quilts. I love Joanna's palette!

January 19, 2014

On Friday I brought four quilts to be longarm quilted by Galyna of Quilting Treats. One of these quilts is the one I was holding for the Wall of Shame. Of course this means that I need to make four bindings and sew them on. Good projects for the library Wednesday group.
Yesterday I caught up with all of my BOMs and started to complete the sashing and borders for the strawberry quilt. A few inches into sewing the sashing I sewed my finger! The needle broke and got wedged at an angle thru the throat plate and into the bobbin case. I wrapped my finger in some tissue and tried to pull out the needle. No luck. Realized I needed a pliers. My husband, Tom, was not home so I went to the basement to look for pliers. This is Tom's tool area.

There are hundreds of rusty ghoulish looking things down here, but not one screwdriver, hammer or pliers.

When he returned home I asked whether we had any basic tools.

Apparently they reside in his car.

January 16, 2014

I went to our local library yesterday and met with friends who meet there regularly to do handwork. Last year on our annual March trip to Lancaster PA I signed up for a wool felt Block of the Month. Its called Wooly Critter sampler by Brandywine Design. I have completed nine of the twelve blocks and have two more cut and fused and ready to stitch. After the last block we will receive the sashing and a beautiful wool appliqué border. This is my WIP on the design board. The crow and squirrel and still in process.

Let me also show you some close-ups of some of the completed blocks!

Block of the month projects are great fun because they add variety for someone like me!

January 15, 2014

Did some errands yesterday and stopped by my LQS, Pieceful Quilting. I picked up some border and backing fabric for my strawberry quilt.

Aren't they pretty?

There is also a tradition at this shop. In January you can come in with a UFO and have your photo posted on the "Wall of Shame". :)  If you come back in March with it finished you receive a 40% off coupon. Here are some of my quilt buddies and me on the wall.

January 13, 2014

The strawberries are resting a bit because I need to catch up on my Hobo quilts. I am making two and need to finish three blocks in each every month. My guild, the Huntington Quilters is doing this BOM for two years. I am doing one in Japanese taupe fabric and the other in bright fun fabric. The book is Hobo Quilts by Debra G. Henninger. The blocks are pieced, appliquéd or paper pieced. Here are the taupe blocks  so far….

Each block represents signs left by hobos riding trains. Here are the bright blocks….

Amazing how different they look!

January 12, 2014

Happy birthday to Hannah and Grace who are 8 years old today. I want to use this blog as a way to share and journal my obsession with quilt making. If I send any more texts and photos to my friends they promise an intervention! So instead I will share here and document my progress. I am currently working on several quilts for my grandchildren. Tyler, Tanner, Grace, Hannah, Sawyer, Benjamin and Viviane. This was my first try at strawberry block.

There are lots of 1/2 square triangles to be squared. Not my favorite job!

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After squaring them I chain pieced all of the strawberry tops.

I received a design board for Christmas which makes playing with the arrangement of the blocks way more fun than doing it on the floor.

I have added the sashing here.