end of the year finish

quilted & ready for binding!

detail - campfire

After a fantastic Christmas vacation with family I made it home to deal with the unpacking, errands, reheating the house and finding something edible in the pantry.  Once most of that was out of the way, I managed to squeeze in some quilting this afternoon and finished up the quilting on my Outdoors quilt!

It's been exciting to actually see this become a quilt over the last year - it certainly waited long enough. There's some of the back story here if you're interested.  In short, it's about 6-7 years old, I dusted the pieces off this summer to assemble the top and now all it needs is some binding.  Yay!

detail - trees, flying geese & sky

My December goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes at Fiber of All Sorts was to finish the quilting on this one and what a relief to have this final goal met for the year!  I've participated and finished my goal every month from February - December!!  Thanks for the extra kick in the pants to get these projects finished- can't wait to keep it rolling in 2014!

detail- onderwater fish

This quilt is on my Quarter 4 list for the Finish-A-Long 2013 at She Can Quilt and I should be able to put the binding on it shortly.  This may find a home on the wall in my living room so I'd get to see it everyday.

detail- twinkling stars

Merry Quilting!

Phew these last few weeks have been non-stop both at work and out of work and in between!  There's been a little bit of sewing fit into all the busy - both for myself and some for gifts too.

I've been working on my Outdoors quilt and it's been a lot of fun so far.  Lots of thread colors and details and texture are being added to make this one of my favorite projects.  Soon enough I'll need to figure out binding color/fabric and get a label together.  Hooray!

a hiking trail through the trees! (please ignore the loose threads)

My Christmas tree is up as well and it was enjoyable to sit by it while watching the snow fall the other weekend.  Putting up the tree can't be done without the Grinch or other favorite Christmas movies  such as Holiday Inn.  I also got around to watching The Holiday which was a whole lot of fun!

Sometimes inspiration strikes whether there's enough hours in the day or not.  That hit me over the weekend and I hauled out my scrap box, some fusible, some form of Peltex, my iron and scrap paper.  I worked out a few fun wintery designs and made art cards as gifts for my friends. 

 Fun and fairly quick to put together once I had the idea sketched out.  Especially fun to go through my scraps and find the exact right prints - like the one I used for the tree.  Perfection!  


These were a hit and I definitely plan to make more as quick gifts.  Linking these up with Finish It Up Friday at CrazyMomQuilts.

Merry Quilting readers!

Sunday Snapshot #19

So I was in the middle of the winter storm path this weekend and we went from 70 degrees to mid-20s!  Brrr!   Lots of sleet and freezing rain and then it snowed which makes everything pretty.

 There's nothing better than crunching through untouched snow! 

December goals for WIP :: 12/4/13

So this weekend included lots of great food, good company and lots of quilting - hope yours did too!  I got to finish up some goodies for retreat which was a nice *short* break from quilt wrangling.  Linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced again this week to keep the momentum going now that I'm back to work post-vacation.

zip bags!

Once I finished up the Christmas quilt, I wasted no time in pulling out the next quilt top from the pile to be finished.  This time it was my outdoors challenge quilt top and I got it basted and into the machine.  I had some definite ideas for the quilting in mind and pulled out matching thread colors before starting to stitch.  

quilting detail - sunshine

Hopefully, I'll be able to finish the quilting on this one before the holidays creep up as this is my December goal to finish up A Lovely Year of Finishes in style!  Linking up with Fiber of All Sorts and making it official that I've participated in it for 11 months this year.  Glad to have made so much progress in finishing up a good number of quilts this year with the help of deadlines and public accountability.  Good luck to all on finishing your December goals!

another finish!

Last night I put the final stitches into the binding of Momm's Christmas quilt.  I really love this one and know Momm will too.  More details are here- check it out.

 Yes Momm, I'll bring it home with me but I'm glad I get it to myself for a few more weeks! ;)

So I'm linking up at Fiber of All Sorts for the Lovely Year of Finishes as this was my November goal.  Here's the original goal setting post. 

 Nothing like a deadline to get you motivated! This is on my Quarter 4 list for the 2013 Finish a Long as well and will be linked up accordingly.

back- quilting detail

Also squeaking in on the deadline to link up with Finish It Up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts.  

WIP Wednesday :: 11/27/13

I sat down at the machine on Saturday afternoon and by Monday evening after work had finished quilting Momm's quilt!  Thinking back it's hard to say what else I did this weekend other than quilt but that's okay - it was sew worth it.  :)

quilted & trimmed for binding

Momm pieced this awesome quilt using the Blitzen fabric line and I agreed to quilt it before Christmas so it can be snuggled.  We planned the quilting out together and I'm super thrilled with how it turned out.  

I used Aurifil threads which I love as they are always so smooth while stitching.  The white bars are stippled with matching thread#2021, the color bars have a ribbon candy type design and in the border I did a fun holly leaf design.  Both use #2320 and the bobbin thread is a light grey to blend into the backing print #2600.

There was just enough red fabric for binding and I'm halfway through hand stitching that down.  I know Momm will love it as much as I do and I can't wait to bring it home for the holidays!

Linking up at Freshly Pieced this week and wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

Sunday Snapshot #18

from the end of the street

This was captured after the tornado-storms that blew through the area this afternoon.  I'm thankful the tornado missed me, but it did some damage just across the river in Brookport so thoughts go out to everyone affected.

WIP :: 11/6/13

It's been a rain-filled day today and would have been perfect to stay at home and quilt.  Sadly, work gets in the way on those days!  So here's what's been happening when I can get in some quilting time.

raindrop filter

finished::

Zipper bag:  Momm made me this wide mouth zipper bag for my camera & cords with just the right fabrics!  I finished up stitching the lining and adding the zipper tab to finish it this week.  It's too cute.  This was on my Q4 list for the 2013 Finish a Long and linked up accordingly. 

Pinwheel Quilt:  All finished and ready to be packed and shipped out.  More story about this one can be found here.









DS Improv quilt:  I took a workshop with Denyse Schmidt, mentioned here, and have the whole top put together!  Can't wait to get it all quilted!

in progress:: 
Christmas Quilt:  All I need to do is find some free time and start quilting this pretty quilt!  See more here.

Challenge Quilt:  I have the batting and backing cut and ready, so this one needs some basting, quilting & binding.

Swoon:  I have the batting and backing all ready to go on this one too.  I'm almost decided on the quilting and will need ALL the basting pins for it!  :) Really want to see this one finished soon.

Linking up at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday and checking out all the other great projects.

November Project

My November finish goal is to quilt Momm's Christmas Quilt!  It's such pretty fabrics and will be nice to snuggle with during the holidays.  

I've got thread ready and designs planned for this one already after some confab with Momm on designs - so excited.  It's already basted and is ready to go as soon as I find the time to sit down at the machine.  

Linking up at Fiber of All Sorts for A Lovely Year of Finishes November.  

Sunday Snapshot #17

Fall is here in style readers!  Lots of color around the area and I've been loving the pops of red and orange among the greens, yellows and golds in the trees.

Went out biking this weekend with a friend on the Tunnel Hill trail.  It was nice to see the color and leaf strewn trail and was a great ride!

I'm gonna wreck it!

Happy Halloween readers!  This year I had a blast figuring out my costume and it turned out really awesome!  

I went as Fix-It Felix and highly recommend watching Wreck It Ralph if you haven't already seen it.

I can Fix it!

I'm squeaking in with my October finish for the Lovely Year of Finishes tonight as well.  Linking up over at Fiber of All Sorts.  This is also my first finish for Quarter 4 Finish A Long and will be linked up accordingly.  Also linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish It Up Friday!

I finished up the Pinwheel quilt originally posted here and loved experimenting with the quilting on it.  This was a top Momm made and I used a pieces of red fabric from my stash for backing.  

I quilted it with Aurifil thread and using a flower design around the center.  In the sashing pieces I just did a little swoosh-like motif.  I did little swirls in each of the blocks as well which look really fun on the back.

The binding is fabric from my stash as well and is machine bound.  I'm definitely getting better at the machine binding, though I prefer to finish binding by hand.

quilting back detail

This quilt will be donated to a charity for kids as soon as I can get a box and decide which one to send it to.  There are so many great options out there and I hope whoever gets it feels the love and joy that went into making the quilt!

improv free style

Hey readers!

starting block

  I was lucky enough to take a workshop with Denyse Schmidt a couple weeks ago and it was fantastic!  I've been wanting to try some improv piecing and it was a perfect opportunity since the workshop was through my work and didn't require a lot of travel on my end.  :)   

Denyse was wonderful to work with and a fun teacher - helping each of us branch out and see what we can create using a traditional foundation.  We started with a traditional block and templates in order to get the basic structure of the block.

Then we were free cutting pieces to re-create the block!  It was fun to see how much we we think we need the ruler and how much the eye corrects in quilting.  Each of us brought 2 solid fabrics to use and having that restriction helped to focus on the block itself.  

starting to design wall

Then it was time to see how far I could push the boundaries of the block - this was so much fun! I wanted to see how I could push it and still keep them together. 

Rearranging the blocks was fun and seeing how moving one piece could change the look of it. 

I started with 10" squares- one of each color - and sliced them in three cuts as desired.  I got a lot of variations and kept adding them to the design wall.  It was tricky to 'square' the blocks up at the end, but I added extra strips in as needed to make the blocks all about the same size to sew together.  I think that just adds to the look of the quilt and it isn't really noticeable.

Since I don't own her book and couldn't have her sign that, I asked her to sign one of my blocks in the quilt!   I ended up with this layout and planned it to keep the darker blue to the outer edges, sort of containing the light blue fabric.  

finished top!

I had the best time and will definitely be doing more improv work in the future.  With a finished top, I'll be thinking of what to use on the back and making plans for quilting this one in the near future!

Secret Project Reveal!

A bit overdue in sharing this secret project with you readers!  Was so excited to make this quilt and gift it to good friends.  Can you guess what it is?

please ignore the wrinkly bits

The Empire State Building of course!   

I made this quilt for good friends L&D (miss you guys!) and knew it would a perfect quilt for them seeing as they got engaged at the top of the Empire State Building and had a NY themed wedding.  Seriously, could it be any more ideal?  I submit that it cannot! :D

I had the city skyline print in my stash and only one piece of the tan I used for the actual building.  No room for mistakes!  The building fabric was also an ombre print which made it even better.  I Googled images of the ESB and found a great line drawing to help me get the outline accurate.

The building & tower are fused to the backing and machine appliqued with a button hole stitch.  I machine quilted lightly - just an outline around the ESB and some lines out from the tower.

L&D have already got it on their wall at home and I hope they love it!