UFOs….finishing a few of them!

Well, I’ve been doing my best to try and finish some of those projects I started over 20 years ago! I have a few more than I thought, and they’ve been bugging me for the last few months, so as I was cleaning my sewing room and finding them, I kept them all out and have been doing my best to work on them. I’m still starting new projects…I just can’t help myself!  I’ve completed my 4th wonky log cabin quilt this past week…It’s probably my favorite one, it’s got the fireside plush on the back and it’s so soft and warm…It was made for my daughter Karmon…..my grandson Walker is helping  hold it up in these pictures.

Thank you to Kelly Kreft,my friend from Colorado for sending me the pattern for this fun snowman embroidered wall hanging….it will measure 16 x 20 when it’s finished.

The picture with the redwork is from the picture on the pattern…..I really wanted to do it in redwork, but even with a drawer clear full of embroidery floss,  (and I’m not exaggerating on that either,) I couldn’t find the red I wanted…so I’m making do with black for my first one…I’m changing up the embroidery stitches on a few of the panels too…I think this will be fun and easy. I guess it came out of a magazine quite a few years ago.

Here is the quilt I’m making for my niece’s baby who was born a week ago…It’s on the frame and should be done in about a week…

A new project I  started this month…a BOM from Primitive Gatherings…It’s a 14 month BOM….so you’ll be seeing new blocks from this one for quite a long while…I just love wool!

This is the 7th block in a BOM I should be done with, but I’ve been too busy doing ‘other’ things that to me seemed more important! Now it’s time to get this done…

A tub full of 3 dimensional flannel bow tie blocks…I had most of these sewn together and then decided I really didn’t like how they looked, so I tore them all apart and will try another layout….this is a UFO from at least 25 years ago….and by the looks of some of the blocks you can tell that I really didn’t know what I was doing!

My great find at a store in Norton this week…all silk ties for .75 each! I was quite happy with the price and the colors….brighter ones, which I needed for the tie quilt I’m ruminating on!

Okay….so I showed you a few of my UFO’s and some newer projects….I am going to whittle down on half started projects…I am! I am! I am!

Happy Quilting!

Kris

Wonky Log Cabin/Crocheted Hats

I’ve been working so much the past few weeks that my sewing has had to take a back seat….I hate that, but with Wayne being home with a broken ankle, I guess it’s a good thing that I’m able to work as much as I have.

I’ve got all of the retro flower blocks done for two baby quilts, just need to sew them together and add the border and the names….One is spoken for and the other one will just be ready when the next girl baby is born…

I’ve also started on those wedding gifts I spoke of on my last blog….actually one is a birthday gift and the other two will be wedding gifts….these are made from scraps of flannel…which I got a bunch of from my mom’s stash before she died.

And above is the start of the light colored version and below is the start of the darker colored one….

And here is the one I made for Karmon and Clint last fall….these are very fast to make, and don’t require too much skill at all….this would be excellent for a beginning  quilter.

And I’m crocheting on my breaks at work and in the evening when I get home….been selling quite a few of my hats, so I thought I’d better replenish my supply! I just need to decide which of the ear flap hats will be for girls and add the flowers to them.

Happy Quilting!

Kris

Emersyn’s Quilt and Evelyn’s Album Wool Quilt

I stitched the last stitch in my Evelyn’s Album Wool Quilt last night while watching T.V….Woo Hoo! I love how it turned out and I told it so today! I tend to talk to my quilts while I’m working on them, that sounds kind of stupid but I find myself doing it all the time….this one is pretty small, about 52x66…..

Emersyn’s Retro Flower Quilt is coming along rather nicely. I have 46 blocks made and only need 30 of them…I guess I’m just an over-achiever! I’ll pick the best of the leftovers and make a baby quilt for my niece Hilary’s baby girl that is due this fall.

I might make a table runner with what’s left after the baby quilt…Never will I be accused of wasting quilt blocks!

I’m not completely satisfied with the baby quilt yet….I think I need another bright pink block instead of one of the plainer ones…..I might switch one out of Emersyn’s and replace it with one of these…we will just have to see…..

I’m on vacation this coming week and my friend Kelly from Colorado will be arriving on Tuesday for three days of one on one longarm lessons…I am so excited I can hardly stand it….I’m planning on learning a lot these next few days…Hopefully enough that I can get Emersyn’s quilt done by September 1st…

Happy Quilting

Kris

Retro Flower Quilt will be done this week!

Well, it’s true, the Retro Flower quilt for my daughter Lesley will be at her house this coming weekend. I just finished quilting it and have the binding on…just need to stitch it down now. This has taken me a couple of weeks to complete, I’ve done a little bit every day.The binding isn’t sewn on yet in this picture, it’s very colorful and made from 5 different fabrics. I’m anxious to get the hand stitching done on it.

A couple of close up pictures of the quilting, I feel like I did an okay job….I like the overall look of it, but I’ve got some minor little glitches. I’d say a good job for the first large quilt I’ve attempted to free motion quilt. I think I like the back side as well as the front!The second BOM from Primitive Gatherings…I am really having a wonderful time doing this quilt. I’m anxiously awaiting the June BOM! I love the wool, it’s so bright and colorful.

My hexagon flower quilt is growing! I try to sew a few on every day….I’m really liking it! This one I’m keeping for myself.

My birthday was Friday, I ended up working until  almost 9p.m. that day…..I was delivering bunches of flowers and Sherrie’s Berries to Moms for mother’s day. It was a stressful work week. I do love my job and am hoping it will calm down this coming week!

Off I go to get some binding sewn down!

Happy quilting! Kris

Free Motion Quilting is kinda fun!

My free motion skills are improving. I’ve got a long ways to go, but I’m having a great time practicing and learning as I go. I’ve decided that I will never be a FM quilter who uses stencils or follows a pattern. I’m just kind of the type of person who is going to ‘go with the flow’! It’s getting easier to just go with my instinct on what will work. I’m still not as neat as I’d like to be, but overall my quilts look pretty good, as long as you don’t look too closely. I hope with time, that will improve too.

I’m about a third done with Lesley’s Retro Flower quilt and I’m excited about how it looks, I think she’ll love it when it’s done.. This is what I’m doing in all of the flowers, I think I could do this in my sleep now!

This is the back of the quilt, I think it looks pretty good, and should look even better when it’s been washed a few times.I think Morris is just as bad as Wilber….they both like to lay on my quilts!

I’ve started sewing my hexie flowers together! I’m excited to get far enough along that I can start planning how I’m going to do the applique in the border of this one. It’s slow going doing all of that hand stitching, I try to sew a few together every morning before work and  also in the evenings when I come home from work.  So far I’m sewing 12 flowers in a row and we’ll have to see how big this will be when I put the white border on, I’d like this bigger than a wall hanging, but not huge either.

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

Baby Stuff!

I’ve been making baby blankets for years, I usually try to keep a stash on hand so when I need a gift I have plenty to pick from. The newest addition to my ‘stash’ has been burp pads, I made these when my daughters were babies, so I’ve been at it for years. Though recently when my grandson was born, my daughter asked me to make her some, and by trial and error we slowly changed them until we came up with something we both liked. When I give these for gifts, almost everyone who gets them calls back and wants to buy more of them. I enjoy making them and they really go together fast. These are my ‘self-binding’ baby blankets, the corners are mitered and I think they look pretty nice! These are my larger receiving blankets…..they are 1 1/4 yards of two matching prints that are sewn right sides together and then turned right sides out. I sew a fancy stitch around the outside edges and then just ‘wrap’ them up with a bow of like fabric. They are always a hit!These are flannel baby quilts. Before my grandson was born, my daughter and I just knew he was a girl….so I made double of all of the baby stuff for a girl. Well, we were wrong, so I have lots of girl stuff and very little boy stuff left.A nursery set that I made for my daughter’s sister-in-law. These were the fabrics she picked out, they were batiks. I would have liked to have made the sheets too, but she said she already had some that would match…..I can’t wait for another grandbaby, so I can get busy and make some more baby things! And last, I have more retro flower blocks made. I’m waiting for my daughter to send me the measurements to see how much bigger I need to make her quilt. I have over 30 of the Retro flowers blocks made now.

Kris…

I just figured out I’ll need more blocks! Ugh!

I now have 28 blocks done for my Retro Flowers Quilt and have figured out I’ll probably need more to make the quilt big enough to fit my daughter’s bed. So now I’m in search of more fat quarters that will match what I’ve already bought. I’ve found some on line that don’t look too bad. Here are the latest two I’ve done.

This is a Snow Days quilt that I made for my mom that’s not yet quilted. I have another one about half done for myself. The pattern is from Crabapple Hill Studios, I love most of their embroidery patterns.

I personalized the ‘General Store’ with our last name…..Nelson’sI also changed the sign on the church to read….Jesus Saves. I love to embroider!

Since I had the day off today, I went to Cambridge to visit my mom and have my sister give me a hair cut. My mom and I went to Cottage Inspirations because they had a big sale going on. I bought some fat quarters, baby flannel, some Kansas Troubles backing and a quilt book. That took the rest of my Christmas money!

Have lots more pictures to post later!

Kris

24 Blocks done and only 6 to go!

Lesley and Erik went home today, so I did quite a bit of sewing this afternoon. I got 4 more of the Retro Flower quilt blocks done, so I’m very pleased with my progress. I need to find 2 more fabrics that will go with the rest of what I’ve already purchased. Hopefully my daughter Karmon who is in Omaha for the next 2 days will be able to do a little shopping for me.

I’ve also been working on a Redwork embroidery sampler from Bird Brain Designs, I love to embroider and I just had to buy this pattern when I saw it. The only problem is I transferred the pattern with a permanent marker when I thought I was using my Frixion marker by Pilot, which will iron out. I think it will be okay, but a few of the lines will show a little….this is definitely a ‘lesson learned’! I just might end up doing another with the right pen. I’ve seen this Frixion heat removable ink pen in most quilt stores I’ve been in. The ink will reappear if you get the fabric real cold. I love mine and will definitely buy another one when this one runs out of ink.

Hope you all had a great day like I did! Happy Quilting!

Kris