New Year's Resolution Quilt Update

Back in January, I made a resolution that I would complete a paper-pieced Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt by Dec 31 of this year.  At the time, I figured I'd make a flower a week until Fall, and then I'd start on the outline pieces before putting everything together.  At that time, I'd just started my third flower, and I was on my way.  And then...  Yeah, I stopped working on it right after I published that post.  Jan, Feb and March were extremely busy months for my shop, and I didn't do much else than fill orders.  Once that was over, I didn't feel like working on much of anything!  In May, I attended a craft party hosted by Sarah from Sadie Seasongoods.  I needed some kind of portable craft, and figured my neglected quilt was perfect.  I'm happy to report that I've been working on it daily ever since.

I decided that I didn't like the larger flowers, and am now doing flowers with the center and two rings around it.  I'm planning to remove the third ring from the first two flowers I made, back in January, so that leaves me with these 11 flowers, plus the two from that I need to undo.  I should be at 24 by now so I'm still a little behind.  Although, I'm thinking now that I'll just stop at 24 because I really don't want a ginormous quilt.  Just something I can drape over the end of the of a bed or that will fit on a twin bed. So I guess now, I'm ahead of schedule.  YAY!  

I would have never imagined I would enjoy working on something so tedious, but I absolutely love every part of the process of making these flowers.  Even cutting the paper templates.  I've always loved having something else to do while I watch TV, and this is the perfect TV project.  It's even better than knitting because there are no stitches to count!  


Until next time...

Weekend Happenings

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I certainly did! It was full of creating and making.  Friday evening, I took my girls thrifting, and I was able to find two crib rails that I can use for displaying baby blankets and quilts when I do craft shows.  I guess since they're not supposed to sell second hand cribs, the store had each piece priced separately.  These were being sold as "upright ladders" and were $3 each.  

Saturday, I spent almost the whole day working on three baby quilts.  I was able to get two of them finished yesterday and am working on the third one today.

On Sunday, I attended a craft party at my friend, Sarah's house.  I took a quilting project that I've neglected for months.  I worked on it most of the time, but then couldn't resist painting a few Story Stones after watching a friend paint them all afternoon.  I took a couple home to Zoe, and she immediately started playing with them so I've found yet another project to work on.  They're really fun to do, and kids really seem to enjoy playing with them.  *These are not mine.  I only did one, so I had to find a nice set to share with you guys.  You can find the source under the photo.

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I'd been admiring painted rocks for awhile, and had pinned a few inspirational photos in  the past, but when I actually searched some out on Pinterest, I found a whole treasure trove full of gorgeous painted rocks.

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I'm under deadlines for a baby quilt and blanket today, and tomorrow I have to get the house back in order, but I'm hoping to be able to start one some rock painting Thursday!



Until next time...

My Mother's Day

I hope all of my fellow moms had a great Mother's Day!

We had a pretty productive weekend.  I'd decided for Mother's Day, instead of gifts, that I wanted to plant flowers.  It'd been something like 5 years since I'd done anything like that.  Aside from two azaleas and a knock-out rose tree, there was no color happening in our yard.  Saturday afternoon, we headed to Lowe's and loaded up.

After breakfast Sunday morning, we headed outside, and got started.  This is where we were about half-way through.

I ran back out to Lowe's for more supplies.

We were out there for hours, and I'd forgotten how much I love being out in the yard, working.  We still have a few more flowers to plant, and then we need to mulch.  I'll share some photos of everything once it's all done.  


I got some sewing done this weekend too.  Saturday afternoon, I started on a little sampler quilt from some of my leftover Scrumptious squares.  I had to stop because I ran out of the cream fabric, and had to order more. I ordered another layer cake of Scrumptious too because I really just love it so much!

Sunday night, I started on a string quilt, using a box of scraps.  

Here's to hoping I get something finished soon!  Until next time...

Scrappy Patchwork Doll Quilt

So I totally finished a project!!  Yay me!

I posted the other day about a quilt I'd been working on for three months. Well, this one was a year in the making.  I actually stopped working on the three month quilt the other day so that I could finish this doll quilt.  I'd started it as a small hand quilting project, but lost interest in it a few days after I started it.  I put my little project basket away, and it stayed put until a few weeks ago.  

Tired of it mocking me every time I was in the same room with it, I decided to finish it by machine.  That took like, all of 30 minutes!  Well, finishing the top and putting the quilt sandwich together, anyway.  See, I have this fear of binding.  I've only done it a couple of times, and the last few times I tried it, it just didn't turn out right.  Plus, I hate having to hand-sew the back!  This little quilt sandwich sat on my sewing dining room table, next to my machine for a couple of weeks until the other day when I said to myself, "This is ridiculous! You've got to stop being intimidated by things.  Just finish the the thing already!"  So, I hopped online to find a tutorial for complete machine binding.  

I ended up using this tutorial which was simple, and not too involved. Sometimes when a tutorial has too many photos, and steps, my brain kinda shorts out.

It's not perfect, but it's a start, and Zoe absolutely loves using it for her bunny (her lovey) so I think I'll just keep making doll quilts until I get the binding down pat.

Until next time...

In Progress - Pinwheel Baby Quilts

I'm terrible when it comes to completing projects.  Seriously.  It takes me several weeks to months to finish something that should only take a few days.

Like this quilt.  I think I've been working on this for close to three months. Yes, I said THREE, as in 1-2-3 months.  I tend to have numerous projects going at once, and things just get lost in the shuffle.  This weekend, I vowed to get the top done, and I not only did that, I started on another pinwheel top just like it.  

I'm planning to get the 2nd top finished this week, and then get the sandwiches and quilting done over the weekend.  I've just ordered the binding fabric, and depending on when that comes in, I'll shoot for getting them bound over the weekend too.  

The collection I used was Moda's Scrumptious by Bonnie & Camille.  I love all of B&C's collections!  In fact, it was their Ruby collection that I used on Zoe's baby quilt.  

I love the colors in the Scrumptious line. They remind me of ice cream sherbet and Summer. 

I purchased a layer cake, and cut it into fourths, making four stacks of 5" charm squares.  I should be able to get at least three pinwheel baby quilts out of the one layer cake.  I'm hoping for at least four, but I might end up with three baby quilts and one doll quilt or a pillow cover.  I'm planning to list the baby quilts in my shop, but I may end up keeping one for Zoe. 

I've got several layer cakes laying around here, and I really need to stop hoarding them, and get to making some stuff.  I love buying fabric, but hate using it.  Know what I mean?  It's like opening a new box of crayons, and then not wanting to mess them up by using them.

Until next time... 

Resolution

I'm not usually one to make resolutions because, like most people, I fail at them.  I've just never been a goal-driven person.  It's not something  that really bothers me, but I've really been trying to change my ways lately, and have been reading Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy (don't worry, that's not an affiliate link).  This book deals with time management, goal setting, procrastination, and being successful.  All of these are things I struggle with. I want to change that.  After mulling things over, I decided to make one goal for myself this year.  Something I need to complete within a certain time frame.  It needed to be something reasonable, something I enjoy if it even has the remote possibility of being attainable.  

I decided that I'm going to make a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt this year.  This quilt is paper pieced which means that the top is stitched together by hand. Completely, BY HAND.  Read that again.  BY HAND. 

These quilts are gorgeous, and so worth the extra work.  Here are some that I'd pinned in the past and have been swooning over lately.  

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Aren't they lovely?  

One thing that appeals to be about these quilts is that they're a great way to use up small bits of fabric that I have laying around.  The other is that I love to have busywork to do while I watch TV.  After knitting for the past 12 years, it's almost impossible for me to just sit and watch TV.  I absolutely have to be doing something else while I'm watching.  Paper-piecing is the perfect TV project.  There are several steps involved before you even get to the actual sewing part. 

First, you need a template.  You can make your own, or you can buy them already made.  You can also buy reusable plastic templates. I prefer to make my own because it's free, and it's something else I can do while I watch TV.  I just duplicate a hexagon shape over and over in a Word document, and then print and cut them out.

I've found a short little tutorial for you, on how to make a small flower.  This is how I do mine, except I whip stitch my petals together.  You way want to try Heather's version since whip stitching can usually be seen from the front. This isn't a deal-breaker for me because it's not like I'm entering this quilt in a show or anything, and I figure once the quilt has been quilted and washed, those stitches won't bee too noticeable. 

Another tutorial I found shows how to make freezer paper templates.


I'll be posting updates throughout the year, and then hopefully, a finished quilt sometimes in December.  So far, I'm averaging one flower a week.  I'm on week three now, and just started my third flower yesterday.

Here's where I am so far.

I love this one!

I'll confess right now that I have no idea what to do after I finish making the flowers.  I haven't researched it yet.  I was afraid I'd not even start if I knew how much was involved.  I'll just cross that bridge when I get to it.  I'm thinking that if I do a flower a week until early October, I should have a quilt large enough for a Queen bed.  At that point, I'll work on putting it all together.  Hopefully we'll all be back here in about 12 months, admiring by gorgeous quilt!

Sharing here:

Pinterest Inspired - Quilt Binding Tutorial

Last year, I created a board for all of the things I'd tried from a pin and succeeded at.  I've decided to start doing posts on these and then pinning my posts to the Pinned It, Made It, Loved It board. 

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I'm really bad about putting off learning something new because it seems too intimidating.  After putting it off, for sometimes years, I'll finally do it and have a major "DUH" moment when I realize that it wasn't nearly as complicated as I'd expected.

This most recently happened with quilt binding.

Back in 2007, I began quilting.  Nothing fancy, just some really primitive beginner stuff.  After all of the work I put into my quilts, I would finish them pillowcase style because I was afraid to try binding.  Now, there's nothing wrong with finishing that way, it just looks so much better when they're finished by binding.

One day back in Jan, I decided to look for a binding tutorial.  I came across a really great one, which I promptly pinned and then tried.

It's from Diary of a Quilter and it's a great tutorial on how to do binding with half machine stitching and half hand stitching.  She even teaches you how to make your own binding!  She's also got a tutorial for binding completely by machine, but I haven't tried that one. YET.

Just like everyone else, I hate to waste my time, so I made a couple of pot holders to try this out on.  It worked perfectly! 

Since finishing the pot holders (I plan to make many, many more of those), I've quilted and bound a small floor blanket for Zoe and a small quilt for her.  

If you've been afraid to try binding, I want you to just stop it and get on with it already.  You'll feel like a big old dorkus for not trying it earlier.  

Goings On

Or maybe, too many sticks in the fire.

There's been a lot of handiwork going on around here.  Most of it involves fabric where last year, it was paint.

Can't wait to get some of this stuff finished so I can share!

A Perfectly Imperfect Quilt

It looks like I'm just a day shy of a month with no posts.  Sorry about that!

Let's see, I last posted about planning to decorate my new master bedroom.  We've been in that room for three weeks now and I love it!  I've still got to hang curtains and also hang a few other things up, and then I'll be back to blog about that.

Right now I want to share with you a couple of things.

Number One:  We had an early gender ultrasound and found out that we're expecting a GIRL!!  We were all three hoping for a girl.  Her name will be Zoe Quinn.  Charles chose the first name, years ago, and I chose the middle name.  Actually, it was a name Han suggested several years ago, back when we used to sit around and try to come up with names for fun.   

Number Two:  I immediately went back to my original plan of a girly nursery with blues and reds instead of the colorful gender-neutral nursery I thought I wanted.  

I have a pretty good board going on Pinterest for all of my ideas, and I've already started on making some things.  This weekend, I finished this quilt.

It's a rag quilt that was inspired by this one made by Kristin at Write it Down.

I loved the fabric she used, but sadly, it's no longer available.  Luckily, I was able to find a similar fabric line from Moda called Ruby.  I bought 2 charm packs and ended up using 70 of the 84 squares (I left most of the gray fabrics out).  I used cotton batting in the craft size, and for the backing, I used some matching fabrics from my stash.

I say this quilt is imperfect because it is.  All of my quilts are.  I'm what you'd call an impatient quilter.  I try to get them done as fast as I can, and this often means that my blocks don't match up like they should, and I usually end up having to trim up the sides of my quilt tops because some rows end up longer than others.  You know what though? I'm OK with this.  The quilts I make are never going to be in a quilt show.  They're never going to be passed down from generation to generation.  They're meant for right NOW, to snuggle up in while taking a nap or watching a movie.  If you're like me, or if you've never even tried a quilt, this one is for you!  The ragged seams will take away from the fact that you have wonky blocks and rows, and the quilting-as-you-go part?  Shoot, quilting can't get an easier than that!

The tutorial I used, which is the same one that Kristin used, is here at Creations by Kara.  Kara mentions that flannel is the best fabric for flannel, but I honestly didn't have any problems with just plain old cotton. 

Well, that's all I've got for now.  Hopefully I'll be back later this week with a master bedroom update. 


Linking to:
Motivate Me Mon @ Keeping it Simple
Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch 
Amaze Me Monday @ Dittle Dattle