My busy weekend

Well, I’ve had a very busy weekend. I worked overtime on Saturday……then came home and made a table runner and started working on a  Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt. I really need to get my house clean, but I don’t find too much enjoyment in that anymore….I’d rather be quilting! I’m scheduled off on Wednesday, so hopefully I’ll get the house somewhat clean and get some more sewing done.

The table runner I made is a bridal shower gift, it’s in the colors of the bride’s kitchen. Turquoise, terra cotta and brown. I’m real happy with the free motion quilting and just basically how it turned out. I used the Retro Flower design that I made my daughter Lesley’s quilt from. I wanted to get some practice in on the free motion quilting and try and figure out what to for Lesley’s quilt. I was very happy with the design I chose…..so this is probably what I’ll end up doing for the much larger Retro Flower Quilt. These pictures just don’t do the table runner justice, it looks much better in real life….

I’ve decided to get busy and make hexagons using the English paper piecing method…..I figured I would call it my FedEx Quilt since I’ve started working on it in the mornings when we have late freight. I’ve decided it’s a bit addictive, I want to take my hexagons with me every where I go, you never know when you might have a spare minute to get one sewn together!

I have big plans for this Grandmother’s flower garden quilt….I’d like to incorporate some hand applique designs in the border. I’m only in the planning stages now, but I’m sure by the time I’ve gotten hundreds more of these made, I’ll know just what I want to do! I’m excited about this because it’s another scrap quilt. I’m using 1” hexagons for the flowers. I found a website on line that you can print different size hexagons for the paper piecing, it works great. You have to cut them out, but it’s well worth it, I just print them on card stock, I get enough hexagons to make two flowers on one sheet of paper. I’ll keep my blog updated with my hexagon flower progress!

Well, it’s time to bring this weekend to a close…..it’s bedtime and it’s off to work tomorrow morning.

Happy quilting! Kris

Aunt Grace’s Garden Party

Well, I’ve got another quilt top pieced and put together. Now I just need to get it quilted. So I think I have around 8 pieced tops that need quilted! And all I want to do is start piecing another one….

I’m going to finish my Patriots in Petticoats next, I’ve got all of the blocks done I just need to put it together and add the border, it’s a little complicated, so it will probably take me a couple of days work to get it done. I want to get all of my partial quilts finished so I can feel free to start on the new BOMs I’ve signed up for. One starts in April and one starts in May.

I also want to get busy and make a few table runners and I also need to replenish my supply of burp pads and baby blankets.

I’m very happy with how my Aunt Grace’s Garden party turned out. By the time I was done with it, I felt pretty confident about my hand applique.

The pattern calls for a slight scallop or a wave on the outside edge of the border and then to bind it in the solid yellow. I’m not sure if the scallop is worth the effort. What do you think? I’m leaning towards just leaving it the way it is….

My sister Susi really wants this quilt, I’ll have to think on that since I really like this one myself.

Happy Quilting! Kris

Hugs & Kisses quilt is completely done!

The Hugs & Kisses scrap quilt that I started from Lesley’s Retro Flower quilt is finished. I bound it last night while I was watching T.V…….actually I was watching my binding while the T.V. was on last night! I was just sitting there to keep my husband company.  I guess I’d give myself an 85% on my free motion quilting, it’s okay…nothing great, but nothing to be embarrassed of either. I felt like a learned a lot doing this one, and that’s a good thing. In the picture below I still need to cut some strings, so if you see some that’s why.

Before it got bound…..This quilt isn’t some of my best work in the piecing department, it’s hard to match up the whites in the diamond in the middle of the block…..I got to the point where I just wanted to get the quilt done, so I let some things slide by that I normally wouldn’t And here is the finished product. I used scraps for the binding too, that took much longer because of sewing little pieces together to get the binding long enough to go around the quilt. So overall, I’m very happy with the finished product. Now I feel like I’ve got the ‘mojo’ going so I can get the Retro Flower quilt done too!

I will say that a tutorial by Anne Fahl found on sewcalgal’s blog helped me in my free motion quilting. Every month for the year 2012 sewcalgal will have a guest teacher submit a free motion tutorial. I really enjoyed this month’s advice. It was very beneficial.

I also purchased the last BOM for my Aunt Grace’s Garden Party…it’s basically the fabric for the borders and binding. My sister Susi saw it and I think she really wants it, we’ll have to wait and see whose home it ends up in. Hopefully I’ll get it done real soon now. I also need to finish my Patriots in Petticoats BOM….just need to do borders to finish it too. I feel like I’m actually getting lots done lately, it’s a good feeling! Now if only I’d have that good feeling about cleaning my house too!

Happy quilting, Kris

Free motion quilting my Hugs & Kisses Scrap Quilt

Well, I’m ready to get started free motion quilting my Hugs & Kisses Scrap Quilt. As you will be able to see by the pictures….I’ve stuck true to my word and have made this truly a scrap quilt. The backing is not the most beautiful thing in the world, but I didn’t have to buy a piece of fabric for this! I spent probably around $15-$20 to finish the top, so overall not too bad. It measures around 65”x80….a good size for a throw to put on your couch.

I’ve been very busy this week with work, so my quilting has taken a backseat for a few days. I ended up working on Saturday, so I had a 6 day work week. Sunday is church, clean the FedEx building, buy groceries and then go to Small Group bible study. So as you can tell, I really didn’t have too much extra time this weekend! I’m feeling pretty good that I’ve gotten this far on this quilt.

As you can see this backing isn’t too pretty, but I did a bunch of digging through my tubs of fabric to find enough fabric in colors that would kind of match to get the job done….I think once it’s quilted it will look just fine. I think binding this in white would look the best, but white would just get too dirty, especially for the binding. I guess I’ll probably just use more scraps of anything left that’s big enough.

I’m just itching to get started quilting this….it will have to wait until this evening though. I’ll be posting pix of the finished quilt very soon!

Happy quilting! Kris

Aunt Grace’s Garden Party almost done….

My Aunt Grace’s Garden Party BOM is almost all done, I just need to go in the Quilt shop and get my last month’s BOM! I’ve got all of the strips done and now I just need to add a few smaller borders and then the outer border….Good for me!

I’ve finally figured out how to do the Grandmother’s flower garden pieces that are English paper pieced. I’ve always known what I needed to do, but had never really put it into practice, but by the last four that were made I had it completely figured out and I’m very happy with how they look. I’m also very happy with all of my hand applique work. Like I’ve said before….straw needles and silk thread make all of the difference in the world!

English paper piecing……very time consuming, but I love how they look.

The next question is whether or not to put on a small colored strip inside of the outer wide white border of Lesley’s Retro Flower quilt…..I think it needs it, but I’m not sure what to do. I think I need my daughter Lesley to look at this and tell me what she thinks. I want to put a smaller 3” border on and then about a 6” white border on the outside edge. I want to use a bunch of the brighter scraps from the flowers to make the binding.It will really show up against the white. If I didn’t have bunches of other quilts already lined up to get started on….I think I would be looking to do another quilt that had quite a bit of applique in it. I’m feeling it! I think I need to keep at it until I’m completely comfortable doing it. I’m almost there. I think when I get these two done, I need to do a bunch of free motion quilting. I will have a total of 8 tops done that need quilted…It just keeps getting scarier thinking about it.

Happy quilting! Kris

Retro Flower quilt is almost done!

Well, Lesley’s Retro flower quilt is almost done now…I just need to add the border and get it quilted. So far it measures 72 x84 and I’m planning on adding two borders so it should end up being about 86 x 100 or close to that. I really like how it’s turned out so far. Still not sure how to quilt it, I sure hope I’m struck with inspiration of some kind!I’ve also been making a Hugs & Kisses scrap quilt with the leftovers from this quilt (Retro Flowers Quilt)…..I love how it’s turning out too. I’m worried I’m not going to have enough scraps to finish it. I had a goal of not buying any fabric at all to get  it done, now I’m thinking I might have to put some kind of spending limit on how much to buy to get it done. So far I’ve not spent any ‘extra’ money on it. We’ll see….Maybe I’ll let myself spend $20 to get it finished….what do you think? I’m planning on making it twice this size, and then adding a border. It should be about right to put on a couch as a throw. I am having more fun making this than the original Retro Flower Quilt!

I’ve also finished the center strip for my Aunt Grace’s Garden Party b.o.m…..I like how my applique turned out over all. I will say that silk thread and a straw needle make all of the difference in the world. I still would say I need to do a bit more of the applique before I will feel somewhat proficient with it, but I have made great strides in my confidence level.

This weekend will be spent mostly cleaning my house. I’ve kind of neglected it for too long. So Saturday I’ve got an appointment with a vacuum cleaner, a broom and some comet….woo….what a hot date for me! Maybe I’ll get some sewing done Sunday afternoon.

Happy Quilting! Kris