WoooHooo!

Today I tried curved piecing for the first time.... and it was a whole lot easier than I thought it would be!

I just used some leftover fabrics for this - so don't expect to see anything made from this LOL.  There is only ONE piece - the pics are so close together that it looks like one photo of two pieces.  

I am so hyped over this - I don't know why I was so scared and why it took me so long to try...  it was definitely worth the wait, though :).

What started this 'adventure' was my oldest daughter commenting that she really liked this table runner she found on FB ....  I told her that I don't do curves.  Because she is so hard to buy/make for, I decided that I'd take a leap and try to make this for her... and I figured that there are enough members in the guild  who can do curved piecing and could talk/walk me through the hard parts.

Trying to find the pattern was an adventure in itself.... she found the pic on Craftsy.com so I went there looking for it.... it was featured on the page of a quilting class.  I checked the info on the class and somehow mistakenly assumed that this table runner pattern was included in the class.  Only after I signed up for the class and was able to scroll  through the class info that I realized that it was NOT part of the class.  Sooo, I went back to the photo and scrolled through the comments & found the info on the designer... went to her website and ordered the pattern and  also ordered the paper piecing patterns for the 'spikes' ( thought they were for all the pieces, though).  Then I crossed my fingers that they would arrive before I went to the quilt show on Sept 6th.  It was being shipped from Canada- who knows how long it could take.... It made it here in time :).

After the quilt show in Marshall, we stopped by The Marshall House quilt shop, of course, and I started shopping for the fabrics.  I don't care for the print they used, so I found some lovely golden/beige print and the black I found has some of the same golden/beige in it...  then I only bought one shade of the gold... because the pattern directions weren't clear enough - it says 1/4 yd and only requires one shade of the gold.  It looks to me like it's going to need more than 1/4 yd...  ( I bought 2 yds  just incase lol).  I also bought two yds of the blue.  I figure if there's extra, it can be used for the backing. :).  I bought the gold and the blue online... someone ( can't remember who just now) had a sale and it was a good enough deal that if the fabrics weren't the exact color/shade that I  was looking for, it wouldn't be a big deal.... right now, I think they'll do fine.

She's going to be so surprised...  No need for her to know that I have now expanded my 'expertise' LOL.  So mum's the word!!!

OH!  Almost forgot...  my third row of the Mi row-by-row is done.

A-Z complete

I finally finished the alphabet part of the A to Z for Ewe and Me ( TQS BOM 2014) a few minutes ago.  It still needs the borders, but I'm guessing that's what we'll be working on in Oct and Nov. - maybe Dec., too.

The bottom corner blocks don't completely show, but I was limited on floor space and I was trying to get a picture before Mr Prissy ( one of our cats) decided to get in the pic, too.

Everything except the background fabric is from my stash; I did buy two fat quarters of med. gold because I thought I'd run out, but then I found more.  And, I'm not sure if I have enough of the background fabric for the borders so went online in search of more - and luckily found it; ordered two more yards - just incase.

Not sure what I'll be working on next...  I'm still behind on one other BOM, but it's getting close to Christmas and I have gifts I need to get started on, ... and I still have my new winter purse to make ( was supposed to have been for last winter, but I never got to it).

This coming weekend is sewing weekend at the library.  On Friday, (which is charity quilt project day) I think I'll have three quilts to put binding on ( for another guild member)... what I'll do Saturday is still up in the air... I have plenty of things to choose from ( too many choices to be honest).

I really need to go in to JoAnn's for some muslin, batting and maybe some backing fabric if I see something that catches my eye in the clearance section.  I want to take the quilt in progress off my mid-arm (Mo'e) and put the muslin (plus batting & something for backing) on so that I can do some practicing... I've barely touched the machine since May thanks to medical issues.  Guess that's what I'll do now... head to JoAnn's ( 50% off coupons - who can resist? LOL)

UWX

YAY!!  I'm caught up on my TQS BOM blocks....  I finished the August blocks ( U,W, and X) today.

Tomorrow, I'm going to work on tracing a pattern that I borrowed from a friend - I've had it wayyy too long and I need to get the original back to her.  I'm hoping that I can start on the quilt (actually, I'm making two - with different colored backgrounds) and work on it when I'm not working on the TQS blocks or Christmas gifts ( it's that time of year).

Another month of blocks DONE

I finished the T,Q, & V blocks today - these were the BOM for July.  It was quite frustrating because some of my pieces did not come out the size that the pattern required; I ended up having to add pieces here and there and, in the case of the Q block, before fusing and appliqueing the letter down, I unstitched the blocks on each side and cut a larger piece of background fabric.  I also wasn't paying close enough attention when it came time to cut the "T" - it ( and the Q) were supposed to be out of lime green fabric.  I knew it ahead of time, but somehow forgot until it was time to do the buttonhole stitch on it.  And, since I did the "T" with black like all the previous letters, I decided to just continue on using it.

Tomorrow is my birthday... would like to do something other than the A to Z quilt, but not sure what it will be.  I have to conserve my energy, though, because I'm hoping that I can talk hubby into going to a sock hop at the local senior center with me - It's my birthday, I should be able to do what I want, right?  :)  I might even be able to get him to join me in ONE slow dance - I'm hoping anyway.

I just checked the USPS website to see how close a pkg from China is to arriving here... it'll be here TOMORROW - FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!  I ordered some teardrop shapes for my Unicorn Quilt - after placing the order, I saw that it could take until OCTOBER 9th for them to arrive - that's also when I think I noticed they were coming from China.  I already have some crystals in teardrop shape, but they will need to be glued on... these that are arriving tomorrow have holes in each end so that I can sew them on.  We'll have to wait & see which one works better.

Here's the May and June blocks joined together and joined to the previous month's blocks... I'm now working on the July blocks... have T done, am working on Q and V is waiting in the wings.
Having a hard time doing anything today - went to a quilt show yesterday with fellow quilters, then lunch and shopping at The Marshall House (quilt store) - and then a quick wall through the craft show downtown -- I think I overdid it.  Having to make and then work with 1 1/2" half square triangles isn't helping matters any :(.  I manged to get 3 of the 6 required done, but then I had to take a break (and a nap).

I shared a pic of the table runner that I'm hoping to make my oldest daughter for Christmas and I said that I hoped the pattern would arrive before the quilt show... it did! :)   While at The Marshall House, I found (and purchased) the background fabric and a nice black print to go with it - I'll have to take a pic later to show you -- both are really nice -- and just a few minutes ago, I ordered the remaining two fabrics that I HOPE will work with them.

The quilt show was really nice... I saw a couple of quilts that I'd like to try... and lucked out when I found the pattern for one of them at a vendor's space :) --along with some other patterns & a book. Then, I bought three more patterns at the quilt shop - two were 50% off, so a really good deal!  The third one  was one I'd been looking at and tempted to buy several times in the past - decided to go for it this time!  I REALLY have to STOP buying patterns!!!!!!   They are really my achilles tendon ( is that the right 'word'?)... I just can't seem to be able to resist them.

Oh, and on Tuesday, I stopped at JoAnn's & found the fabric that I'll be using to make matching dresses for the three great granddaughters and for the great granddaughter to be - along with a matching dress for each girl's 18" doll.  Light green background with cute brown monkeys scattered around - and a matching brown with circles for the trim on the skirt hems.  Can't wait to get started on them - I want to get caught up on the TQS BOM quilt first.

Off to try and get the Q block done.....  wish me luck! :)

Labor Day Weekend

The first two rows of my Michigan Row by Row quilt are completed except for adding sashing between the rows and then some decorative buttons after it's assembled and quilted.  I didn't think I'd really get into doing these row by rows, but I'm finding it kind of fun.
The idea behind the Row by Row is to collect (free) patterns or purchase kits from at least 8 different quilt shops that are participating in the Row by Row.  I think I have 9 now, but there are a couple that I'm not crazy about and am hoping to be able to get my hands on a couple others that I really like ( like the Mackinaw Bridge for one).
I'm sure I won't get mine done in time to be the first submitted to any of the quilt shops ( fat quarter packs and a gift certificate, I think, are the prizes for being first in each of participating quilt shops), but that's ok - I'm having fun anyway... maybe if they do this again next year, I'll get started earlier and give the rest a run for their fat quarters lol.
Now that these two are done, I'm devoting the rest of the weekend to getting back to working on my TQS (The Quilt Show) A to Z Ewe and Me block of the month quilt... I'm wayyyy behind ( like 4 months - it'll be 5 tomorrow since it's a new month) and I really want to get caught up - it's really a cute pattern.

These are my Jan-April blocks.

I also have another BOM (block of the month) that I need to get back to working on, too, but it's going to have to wait until probably Jan; it's time to start sewing on Christmas gifts.... first one up will be the table runner that my oldest daughter HINTED for.  I told her that I don't do curves (which is true) so it should really throw her off and she won't suspect that she's getting it :).

No guarantees she'll get it this Christmas - it may be next year or the one after... I wasn't kidding when I said that I don't do curves so this may take longer than it should.  Why couldn't she have spotted it months ago???  :)  Right now, I'm just hoping that the pattern arrives ( from Canada) before next week's Cal-Co quilt show so that I can start shopping for the fabrics I'll be needing for it.  If it doesn't, I'll just go down to Sweet Bee's here in town and let my fingers do the walking over her gorgeous batiks while trying not to drool on them too much. :)
Ok, enough stalling, I need to do a little cleaning in my sewing room tonight so that I'll be ready to get back to my A to Zs tomorrow morning.

DONE FINALLY

Well, at least the top is... of course, it still needs to be sandwiched and quilted, but that will have to wait until I find backing fabrics for both sizes.

I have been focusing on getting this top done since this past Saturday.  That day, I worked in my sewing room for 8 1/2 hours and almost as long on Monday... this was just piecing and attaching the border.  Because this top is larger than the pattern called for, it took some fussing to get the borders to fit...  the length wasn't too bad -

- I simply added a straight bar of the color.  The shorter sides were a little more difficult - and, looking back now, I could have done a better job.

What I ended up doing was simply laying out the two lengths for each side and then sewing them together where they met & cutting off the excess.  I think I could have made another block to bridge the gap between the two lengths if I had stopped and thought about it.

As I am adding one of the long borders, I noticed that something didn't seem right... OOPS!  I missed adding an inner border!!  There's only scraps of the background fabric left so if I had tried to go back and add the missing border, it would have involved lots of piecing.  At this point, I just wanted this quilt top to be done and over with - I've only been working on it since January - time to call it done.  I don't think most people will even notice it, especially once I quilt it.

It is what it is - DONE!

Last week, I went on my second row-by-row road trip with my cousin, Cathy, and our quilt guild friend, Joyce.  This time, Vicki was able to join us.  We hit six shops this time ( only three the week before).  I was not only collecting the free patterns for the row-by-row quilt that's currently going on in several states across the nation, I was purchasing fabric for next year's AQS group challenge.

I can't remember if I've mentioned it in previous posts or not.  Our guild decided to use letters as our theme this time around.  A small baggie with all the letters of the alphabet was passed around to the members to draw from.  We can use the letter itself or we can do something related to the letter ( i.e. A could be an apple, accordian or acorn for example).  I drew the letter 'U' and wasn't sure what I could do with it at first... immediate thoughts were Umbrella and Unicorn... thought about unique but couldn't figure out how to use that in a quilted wall hanging (size is to be 36" wide by 48" tall).

Once I started thinking about unicorn, The Unicorn Song by the Irish Rovers started running through my head - CONSTANTLY!!   I've gotten the pattern worked out in my head for the most part... thought about using the unicorn for the center of the quilt and then printing the names of the other animals (green alligators, long necked geese, humpty backed camels, etc) scattered throughout the background (sky) - changed my mind on the animal names.  I think I'll only include a couple of the other animals .. like the alligators, but then I'm going to try and make the camels and maybe a cat or a rat out of clouds ( you know how you can look at clouds and see different shapes in them? - that's what I'm talking about).  I'm also planning on including a panda bear in a patch of bamboo in memory of Joan Mason, a fellow guild member who recently passed away.

Anyway, I was able to find and purchase most of the fabrics that I'll be needing for the Unicorn quilt while out of the roadtrip.  I still need something for the unicorn itself - silk has been suggested but I'll have to wait and see.  I want something that's a little shiney but not TOO shiney and it has to be easy to work with - I don't want to have to use fusible (  i.e. Heat n Bond) and I don't want something that's so sheer that it will need lining to prevent the background from showing through.

I've purchased some heat set crystals for the rain... but they are round and I wasn't sure they were what I want so I went on Amazon.com and found some teardrop shaped crystals.  I couldn't tell from the pic whether they have holes in them so that they can be sewn on or if they will need to be glued on.  Heck, I'm not even sure they're going to be the right size - will find out when they arrive either today or tomorrow.

I'm also collecting yarns for the unicorn's mane & tail.... I want bright and colorful.  So far, I have eyelash yarn in hot pink and deep purple (found in clearance sale).  I'd like some yarn with 'knots' in it and maybe some with sequins or something similar.  I don't want to have to buy skeins of each - would LIKE to find people to donate a length of their scrap yarns.

Still need to find a fabric for the alligators, too.