Pinwheel Sampler isn FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!

So about a year ago I took a quilting class with Marcia to make my first half square triangle quilt. It has been a journey for sure!

I got my sampler from Connecting Threads.  It is a Rachel Griffith Design I love it! It took me a long time, one the kids kept me busy, I decided to have surgery, go to Disney World and a whole slew of other things within the year.


Before I got started I had a TON of the HST all made out. Don't these look so neat and ready to go?

So here is a few of my favorite blocks.

I am VERY proud of those points!  I can't tell you how this was a labor of love. I have been making the quilt for my Dad. It is all sailing fabric and themed.

here are my blocks ready to be sewn together.

There they sat, for some time. Seems I managed on 6 to make them short. I have no idea how I did that. Could it have been that I was sewing them after surgery, while on pain meds? Naw..  lol

But last night I finished her.  Here she is. It is ready to head over to Marcia's to be quilted!

Like my corners? That was a fabric shortage issue. I had all kinds of issues, but it turned out neat with the corners being that way.

Learning

I have this nice fancy nancy sewing machine. Red does a lot of things. I am beginning to explore these things. One of them is Free Motion Quilting.  Unlike working on the Long Arm with a program or its Free Motion, this is smaller and not the same stabilization that a Long Arms gives you. I would probably only do this for small projects and not larger ones.

Here is my first attempt at it.  No too shabby.  I need more practice for sure, but it is a start. Keys are keeping things smooth and even. You want even stitches.  It has a rhythm to it all. Once you get in the groove I found it to be easier. 

Look for more to come in this area and I explore Red and all that has to offer.

Not totally even, but totally free hand and first time. Some edges are still a little sharp.


Oh I also made a fabric file hanging folder. Turned out cute!

I have other projects too, but alas I can't show them till after Christmas. I do not want to ruin the surprises for many families.  ;o)

Creating a family heirloom

So for weeks now I have been working on a secret quilt for a very good friend of mine. This past fall her Grandfather passed away. Both her and her mother were very close to him. Emily spent some time in Alabama this summer and thought, I should make my mom a lap quilt with some of his shirts. He was a plaid man. And had a love for birds.

Now I have made quilts for others. Yes I should charge, but you know what? I have a skill that others don't and I ha love of giving handmade gifts. My payment for this quilt was an afternoon with Emily. I had her cut for me. I just had surgery and needed the help. I also got a new omnigrid square too! So I came out pretty good. I was talking to my Mother-in-law today as we quilted and I learned how to use the long arm, that sewing is relaxing.  When I have had a hard day at work, I enjoying coming home and sewing. Yes it puts strain on my back, but it puts me in a better mood.

Back to my point. I have wanted to share for weeks now this quilt and today I finally can!!!!

Today I was almost on my own. I am a learner by doing. So Marcia had me tell her how to run the long arm. The parts that I didn't know she lead the way. I found it very easy to use and not as intimidating as she looks. I am excited that I will get to spend more time learning. Oh I also made two sweet pillow cases and embroidered them.  Grace also made a purse today. Busy!?!?? Understatement, but a wonderful day. 

 Quilt all done. Just needs the binding put on.

 The back

 Up close of the pattern I chose.

Here are the pillow cases I made as gifts. The girls LOVED them.

 

Carousel day 3

Did get much done on it today. I worked with layout again.  Then finally called it good enough to start.  I started to measure my blocks and make sure they were sqaure.  Always remeasure I say! Then started piecing the rows together. I was able to get the first two. So you have an idea of what it will look like.  Just 7 more rows to go. HA

You also get to see a part of my sewing/scrapbooking room. Oh and that would be Grace's art work that was in the CCISD art show.  Love that girl!

Oh My longarm!!!

Well today I had the pleasure of spending most of it with my Mother-in-law and her BEAUTIFUL Longarm Quilting machine. she has a state of the art Gammill Optima machine with a Statler Stitcher. It is a beauty and oh how it can make your quilt beautiful.

Today I was able to finish the baby quilt I have been making for a friend. Marcia did a free hand stitch. WOW. So what you see below is all her doing.

 Getting the backing all pinned and ready for the batting and top.

 Basting around the edges before she began

 A quilitng she goes. I love having my tops done here. Not only is the company good, but makes all my hard work at piecing come together in the end and jut icing on the cake.

 Almost finished. Wanted to take a picture of it while it was still rolled.

 Just the back of the quilt. Love this pattern she created. Also enjoy the fact that it doesn't take away from all the baby clothes and goes inline with the fabric for the backing.

 The finished product. Minus the binding being whipped on. I hope Susan and Gabe enjoy it as much as I do.

A better close up of the back.

Day 2 on Carousel Quilt

Piecing, piecing, piecing....

That should be a song for quilters. Doesn't feel like I got a lot done, but OH my it was a puzzle. I was able to finish chaining my pieces together, iron out my seams and begin the piecing and placing of my blocks.

First I had to finish some biding for the baby clothes quilt. It is off to Marcia's to be quilted tomorrow!!

Rows A and B mostly laid out. With the fabrics being so dominate I needed to make sure that they were evenly distributed throughout the quilt.

So I called on the Engineer and puzzle master to help. As you can see WHOA fabric! 9 rows total with 7 pieces per row. There is a bit missing to. Lattice pieces go between each piece and on the ends. Brad LOVES, puzzles I mean LOVES them. So he was willing to help. He is always willing to help me cut, figure and piece.  Love him! I am not the biggest fan of puzzles.  Brad says that is why quilting suites me. Cause it is my kind of puzzle. I can cut the pieces to fit anywhere.  ;o)

Well here is the sort of finished product.  Going to sleep on it tonight, and take one last look before I start putting the rows together. But I like the distribution of fabrics.  We check both vertically and horizontally to make sure the same fabrics weren't in each row or column.  Goodness.

I really love the earthy tones of this fabric line. I am getting excited about how this is turning out.

Headed to bed over it all, going to sleep on the layout. Tomorrow is a busy day, more dr. appts too. Headed to Marcia's www.stitchmemories.com to have my baby quilt professionally quilted. Then she will be helping me make squares that are two half triangles for the block of the month. Oh and don't forget a Hobby Lobby stop for some Kona Cotton.

Night all!

Carousel Lap Quilt 1.

Today I began sewing on a quilt I have been wanting to do for a long time. About a year ago with Quaker Town closed it doors here in Friendswood, I jumped at the sales and bought a TON of fabric for 60-70% off. Moda fabric, Robert Kaufman and more. I had intended this to be for Grace, but my husbands Aunt came over one day with a Robert Kaufman botanical fat quarter pack. That bundle just spoke to me and I knew it was fit for the quilt I have been wanting to put together.  

This will be my first quilt with so many pieces.  I think so far I have cut around 200 pieces. But I did get a lot done today. Started on the 31 blocks. I really like the colors. Yes it has orange in it, but not a TON of orange.

Here is what my quilt will look like. I love it it plays on your eyes.

 My fabric choices. I think they are perfect for this quilt. One things that I love, I mean LOVE about fat quarters is that they designer of the fabric put a lot of thought into how the fabrics go together and plus makes the matching of fabric just a tad easier for me.

 

The cutting begins. First I had to cut 63 squares that where 6 1/2 by 8 1/2 My fat quarters were perfect for this. My overage on each one was just over 2". I will be saving that for my binding. Thinking I will want a funky binding using this left over scraps from each fat quarter. 

Next I cut 116, well more to be safe, 1 1/2" by 8 1/2" for the lattice pieces. Here I am in the process of making 31 blocks. Each has a lattice piece on both long sides.

 

That was all for tonight. Tomorrow I plan to finish sewing the lattice pieces to make the 31 blocks. Then I will begin assembling the rows. That is where the magic of this pattern takes place.

Prayer Quilt

Have I mentioned before that I loved to sew and make things for others?  Well I do, but just don't always have the time. A friend of mine was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. I made her a prayer quilt to take with her to surgeries and or treatments.

I didn't take pictures of the back, but it is hot pink. In the white areas around the quilt we all took turns writing our favorite bible verses or motivational sayings.

Relay for Life Quilt

I was asked to make a baby clothes quilt. I am nervous so I did one more quick quilt before I made the other one. I have a friend that is raising money for Relay for Life and I decided to make a quilt to donate. I have very much enjoyed working on this quilt. It is my first time working with a jelly roll. I have to admit that it was nice to have most of my cutting done for me.

The words are Faith, Courage, Hope

Church Lady Quilt

For my second quilt I took a class that my mother-in-law taught. It was easy and it is one of those quilts that looks harder than it was. It has a nice light dark contrast. I picked these colors because they are the colors of our bedroom. Yes believe it or not, every room doesn't have a purple theme to it.

Church Lady Quilt

Day 6!! FINISHED!!

Drum roll please.... I am finished with my quilt!  Yes done! I am just about to get this post done and curl up with it on my comfy chair. I have many areas to work on. Binding seems to be my next goal. I tried to machine stitch it on.  What was I thinking?? I know now that hand stitching would be better and easier.  Note to self. That is the good part about doing new things and learning, you always find a way to do it better and easier the next time.

Sewing the binding on to the right side of the quilt.

Sewing the binding. Lesson learned hand stitch this next time.

Finished product. The quilt is about 6.5 ft by 5.5ft.

Here you can see the backing. 

I am now about to log off and start my search for more fabric for my next project.  I have made good notes of my areas I need to work on.

Day 5

So excited to post this today!!  My quilt has been quilted!!  I went over the my mother-in-laws and we hooped it on her long arm quilting machine and away it went. It is just so pretty. Tomorrow I will be working on the binding and then have the finished product. I have also made two more fat quarter bags for friends of mine. I am just loving sewing again. I forgot how much I loved it. Now the hunt begins for fabric. I am making a quilt for Grace and of course it has to be pink.

This is the machine.

Marcia basting at the top of the quilt

Ready to go!

This is the design I chose for the quilting. I love it!

Day 4, FINAL Day1

I have finishing my quilt top!! Very exciting. I have had a lot of help, but it was all a good learning experience! I know that it isn't as hard as I thought and main things are to take your time in measuring and always check and double check. 

Here is part of the finished top! My camera battery decided to die just as we finished the whole top itself. So once I get it quilted then I will show pictures of it all done. The back will be oh so pretty. I just have my binding to make and I have some neat scraps left over in all the colors. So I think I will make my binding interesting.

Day 3

Well I am little sore today. All that sitting at the sewing machine. I will say though, that his process has been easier than I thought it would be. Above is some of my finished product. I have my blocks done and parts of the sashing is sewn in place.Lessons I have learning so far:

• MEASURE
• MEASURE again
• And for the peace of mind write your measurements down!!!

Here are my blocks getting ready to be pressed. Super important to make sure your seams are all nice and flat. Sewing 1.4" can be difficult, but if you make good practicing out of MEASURING, pressing and RE-MEASURING you will be fine.  ;o)