UFO Weekend

Here is my list for this weekend...

Finish the Central Park Quilt for the Opera - i.e., back, bind and quilt.

Finish quilting and bind the Fandango Sugar Rush quilt.

 Square up the A Blockwork Orange blocks so I can get them in the mail.

NOTE:  A Blockwork Orange is a Flickr group based on Oh Fransson's tutorial found at the link above.

Finish my mini quilt for the Flickr Mini QT swap.

 Finish my sister's birthday gift (I'm fairly confident that Sis is not a blog reader.)






I promise myself that I will not start anything new until I finish at least these 5 UFOs.  I know there were more things on my list, but if I get these done, I can celebrate.

A Mystery Solved

Last weekend in this post, I mentioned that I was making a quilt from Kate Spain's Central Park for the Pensacola Opera's silent auction.  The quilt is a Moda Bake Shop recipe, and it went together like a dream.  Except that I ended up being 3 inches short of enough rick rack to finish the borders.  It bothered me all week.  Everything else about this recipe was awesome.  I bought the materials that were suggested.  Why was I short??

After a trip to JoAnn's on Monday and a couple of evening events this week, I finally got the last border sewn on Thursday evening.  And it bothered me.  It just looked weird.  The rick rack was sewn into the seam and it just didn't look right.  Wish I'd taken a picture.

Naturally, I did what I should have done last weekend when it didn't work - I went back and re-read the directions.  Usually I'm pretty good about this, but apparently not last weekend.  The borders were made to have cornerstones! Lovely little squares set in the corners to accent the borders.   I totally missed that!  My only defense is that I don't have a place for the computer in the sewing room and my printer is out of ink, so I was running back and forth to grab one instruction at a time and remember it long enough to complete the task before I forgot.  THIS instruction, though, I totally missed.  Nothing to do but rip it out and fix it.

And I like it a LOT better!  It's amazing what can happen when you follow the instructions!

The quilt is turning out better than I had hoped.  I only had a half yard of the brown zoo animal border (called Lawn Zoo, oddly enough) so I made a narrow (1-1/2 inch finished) border instead of the 3-1/2 inch border called for in the pattern.  That was a calculated deviation from the recipe.  I hope to get this guy backed, bound, and quilted tomorrow.

So now I have 4 little squares of fabric with rick rack sewn down the middle, another strip about 45 inches long with rick rack sewn down the middle, a little yardage, and the rest of a jelly roll.  And, my LQS carries Central Park.  Maybe I'll make another quilt.  Tonight, BD#! told me that Heather of  {House} of Ala Mode is doing a quilt benefit for Japan.  Maybe I'll make another quilt to donate.  Why not?

A Weekend Blogger

As I approach my 100th post - I think this is #82 - I have been thinking a bit about my little blog.  I think I am mostly writing to myself, my kids, and a few dear kind souls who have become followers, and I am thinking about the fate of this foray into blogdom.  I really want to contribute something to the quilt/craft world.  There are so many talented folks out there who have shared so much with me on their blogs, and I would kind of like to give something back.  The blog is also a diary of sorts of what I've been working on and accomplished.  And it's a fun way to record my swapping "sents" and "receiveds".

But I have realized one thing...  I am primarily a weekend blogger.  I work 40+ hours a week.  And by the time I get home, I am often too exhausted to craft/quilt/sew.  It's a sad thing, but true.  

So, if you are one of the kind souls who actually read this, check back on Mondays.  It's likely there'll be something new.

And watch for something fun on post #100.

49 Blocks

I am a little bit proud of myself.  Just a little bit.  This was a 49 block weekend.  Let me explain...

I started the weekend with only one goal - to finish the Central Park baby quilt I am making for the Operazzi Ball auction.  One of the other ladies knits a sweater, booties and a hat, and I make a quilt.  This time, I decided to use a jelly roll and a recipe I found on Moda Bake Shop.  It is cheerful and fresh, and I really like it.  There was just one little problem  I ended up about 3 inches short  of enough rick rack to finish the inner border.  So, this little project will have to wait until I can go back to JoAnn's and get another couple yards of rick rack, since I don't want to piece it.

The blocks for this quilt went together like a dream.  I guess that is one of the benefits of using a jelly roll.  It was really fun to make.  it is so much fun to sew on luscious fabric that looks beautiful and feels soft and yummy.  This quilt top took 20 blocks.

On another note....I am participating in a First Time Bee, and this is my month to be Queen Bee (reminds me of a Mary Engelbrite drawing!).  While I was contemplating what to do for "my month", we had an email conversation in the Charm Square Swap about quilts we had known and loved.  Ah, nostalgia!  Which made me think about my favorite quilt of all time - probably because it is wrapped around memories from childhood like the warm blanket it is.

When I was little, my family had a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt that my Dad's grandmother had made for him.  I'm not even sure which grandmother, but the quilt was one of only two that my family owned, and the other was sadly abused (but I digress).... It was made of old shirts and dresses and who-knows-what  and was tied together by the loveliest peach-ish border of hexies between the flowers.  And I loved that quilt. Maybe it's the reason I love quilts and love to quilt.  Anyway, I would have gladly slept under it every night, but my mom only let me have it when I was sick.  Fortunately (well, maybe not - my mother certainly didn't think so) I was sick a lot.

After my mom died, the quilt was lost.  I asked my sister when I visited last summer if perhaps she was in possession of this heirloom quilt, but alas, no. 


Anyway,  at some point in the last month or two, I decided I really wanted to make a GMFG quilt of my own.  So approached the other ladies in the bee and suggested a Grandmother's Flower Garden block and they were willing!  I was so excited!  I'm not sure yet if the quilt will be a traditional GMFG quilt (there is a beautiful example here) or something that showcases the blocks made by my bee friends (maybe like this) but either way, I'm sure I'll love it.  So, since Handsome Son was visiting this past week, I spent more time than usual sitting in the den watching things like basketball.  This was a great opportunity to work on my Grandmother's Flower Garden Blocks.  I managed to get two of them put together this weekend.  I always thought they would be difficult and tedious, but I find I really like making them.  The teflon templates make it so easy to get them exactly the right size, and that makes them a breeze to put together.  Hexies are a great way to use my scraps.  I don't know that the volume has diminished appreciably yet, but I have high hopes.

Two more blocks completed this weekend.

I am also participating in A Blockwork Orange block swap.  This swap is based on Oh Fransson's tutorial.   The idea is that you send in however many blocks you want to get back.  The truth is, though, that I like these blocks so much that I'm tempted to keep them all and make my own quilt.  Hmmmm...

One...

Two...

Three...

So, all in all, it was a pretty productive weekend.

Accomplished:  49 quilt blocks.  Not bad!

Spools

I've been doing a lot of sewing/quilting lately.  When I went to throw out my sewing trash a couple of weeks ago, this is what I found.  That is a lot of empty spools.  I'm pretty sure most were new spools since the first of the year, because I always seem to be running out of white thread. 

Recently BD#1 and I had a discussion about thread.  She got a new Bernina for Christmas (sweet!) and has been taking the classes that go along with her purchase.  She said the teacher had mentioned that thread is an important consideration...  something about European machines doing better with thread that has a left twist and American made thread has a right twist.  Who knew?  Anyway, as you can see, I've been going through  thread like crazy lately, so I decided to take her advice and try Mettler thread.  To me, it's biggest advantage was that it is an 850-yard spool, which is about 60% bigger than any that C&C offers.  So, since JoAnn's recently had a 50% off deal on thread, I bit the bullet. 

Mettler doesn't have as many colors as C&C, but if all I'm doing is piecing quilt tops and making blocks, who cares?  White is white, right?

And I noticed an interesting thing.  I don't get nearly as much lint in the bobbin case with Mettler thread.  That was unexpected.

And I really do like the larger spools. 

Now if I could just get bigger bobbins to work in my machine.

The Mini Mini

So, I probably shouldn't make this confession, but here goes...

I am involved in a mini quilt swap via Flickr called Mini QT.  The little quilts can be no more than 12-inches square and this month's theme is 3D.  This isn't a secret swap, so you can't show photos of the whole thing until your partner receives her little quilt (which is OK, since my creation isn't finished yet LOL).

I have this dynamite idea in my head which requires the creation of a mini mini quilt (or maybe even 2).  Anyway, I've been struggling with the mechanics of creating something so small.  Yesterday, while I was finishing up the SUTK swap I came across the scraps I cut from what was supposed to have been the reversible place mats after I cut off the excess after I took them apart for the second or third time and added more of the yellow sunbursts (at least that's what they look like to me - or maybe kaleidoscopes)....  I had a ton of these little pieced scraps - 16 of them to be exact.

So I started playing with them, turning them every which way, putting them together in different combinations, and suddenly, I had this little mini mini ziggy zaggy quiltie.  The binding was also a scrap from the same project, already cut.

In all, the whole little quilt took less than 30 minutes, quilting and all.

Kinda makes up for all the problems I had with it's obstinate parent.

SUTK Swap Package

My package for the Spicing Up the Kitchen swap is finally done.  After several abortive ideas and much frustration, my package is COMPLETE!  I am so glad.  It seems like I have been working on it forever.

I started with the idea of a reversible place mat.  My original color choices were based on a piece of Amy Butler fabric that was lovely, but the only fabrics I could find that coordinated were pink, and that received a resounding thumbs down from the SUTK Flickr group.

Then, I thought I would do little birdies in green.  It was maybe just a little too green.  Note the Amy Butler fabric in the picture below.

 Then I fell in love with Kumari Gardens and wanted to showcase the butterflies.  Sadly, they did not want to be showcased as badly as I wanted to showcase them.  This is where most of the frustration came in.  I took them apart and put them back together too many times to count.  And then, when I finally did finish them, they were bigger than their partner and wouldn't work for reversible place mats at all.  I may finish them for a wedding gift or something.  They really are pretty.

And so, I did what any self-respecting quilter would do who was running desperately short of time - I took what was to have been the other side of the double-sided placemats and went full steam ahead.  I don't think I have a scrap much bigger than a charm square left of any of these fabrics.

There are 4 placemats, each with a different applique.  The applique patterns are from Sandi Henderson's Bits and Pieces book.


Note that I am too short to get a really good picture of these.  This was taken standing on the couch.

I made a decorative dish towel.  I pieced a decorative border for the bottom of the towel.  I was amazed that I had a towel the perfect color in my stash.  Such forethought (NOT - purely accidental!)

Each of the fabrics is "quilted" onto the towel.

I made a double sided pot holder from a tutorial I found here.  It was super easy and fun to make.

I did discover that my sewing machine, which does not really like to FMQ at all, REALLY does not like to FMQ on Insulbrite - especially two layers of insulbrite.

This is the outside.  

And this, of course, is the inside, with two little pockets for your hands and a little loop to hang it up.
















 Finally, I made a modified fat quarter apron.  I used the same border idea on the apron as on the dish towel.    I thought it turned out pretty cute.

I really hope my partner likes it.