Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving.  We have so many things to be thankful for.  Hug your family.  Play with your kids.  Be happy with the things that God has provided for us.  My husband has been sick for the past three weeks.  It's something that just needs a little time, sleep, and strong antibiotics to heal.  It could have been much worse.  We saw so many people that needed more help than us when we waited in the emergency room for 11 hours.  My husband is home and getting better.  My son and I are enjoying the snow and playing "school".  Life is good.

Today I just made one scrappy block and attached it to a block I made earlier this week.  I think of all my friends that have given me scraps in this block.  I have some awesome friends.

Here's a pic of my little sunshine in the 6" of snow we got.  We could make snowballs, but couldn't get the snow to pack.  We made a little snowman.

Today will be a nice day with the family.  I hope to work just a little on my Downton Abbey Mystery blocks.  There are 12 blocks this week!  Whew!  Happy Thanksgiving!

WIP Wednesday 11.27.13

Here's what happened this busy week:

These geese flew on and off the frame.  Quilting for my tall geese blocks from the May block Lotto will hopefully be my Friday Finish quilt.  Needs trimmed and a binding.



I finished quilting this customer quilt.



I also finished quilting this customer quilt.



I made this little sleep bag for my six-year-old.




I sorted scraps and cut them to 2" squares all neat in a jar.



I did a sample block on what I have in mind.  I'm not going to consider this a new project since I am really just organizing scraps at this time.  Here's my sample:

 

That is what it would look like on point.  I really like it better when it's not on point.  I got my inspiration from a 2010 quilt along at I'm a Ginger Monkey blog.  Her scrap vomit quilts are awesome!

 

 There's a giant starburst QA at  Canoe Ridge CreationsCanoe Ridge Creations.


Cutting starts Monday, November 25.  Check it out.

I'm entertaining the thought of joining in onthis QA to make a quick baby quilt for my stock.

New Projects

 



Pieces Still Need to be Cut & Sewn

1.  Herringbone OSU quilt

2.  Digging up Bones (Owen's dinosaur quilt) -- Gave blocks to LQG Round Robin swap 4.23.13
3.  Quilt Doodle Designs BOM (one more month to go!!!)
4.  Rock Island Campfire Quilt
5.  Picadilly Circle
6. ...And Sew On BOM at Quiet Play (one block to go)
7.  MSBHQAL (Molli Sparkles Broken Herringbone Quilt Along)
8.  Downton Abbey Mystery QA

Blocks Still Need to be Made
1.  NY Beauty
2.  Orca Bay
3.  We Can Do It Skill Builder Sampler
4.  Red/White Flower Basket Quilt
5.  Maroon Star Sampler Quilt
6.  Color coordinated hexagon quilt
7.  Gourmet Quilter Sampler
8.  Bluepatch Mystery Quilt
9.  Amanda Murphy Designs (ugly fabric quilt)
10.  Drunkard's Path Variation baby quilt
11.  Finding Nemo Scrappy Trip quilt

Blocks are made but need to be sewn together (and/or some sashing)
1.  Block Swap Adventure Sampler (2011-2012)
2.  Butterfly Blocks (that I won)
3.  Orange/Blue Fish Blocks (that I won)
4.  Split Stars (blocks won from Block Lotto; October, 2012)
5.  African Violet baby quilt (Block Lotto inspired)
6.  Tall Fly (blocks won from Block Lotto; January 2013)

Quilts back needs to be made (tops are done)
1.  Grandma's WIP -- Cameo Rose (this one is a long-term project)
2.  Grandma's WIP #2 (This is also a long-term project)

3.  Snowman mini quilt (red #1)

Ready to longarm
1.  Dutchman's Puzzle
2.  Scrappy Christmas QA (I think I am going to straight-line quilt this one.)
3.  Spring Mystery 2013 (still need to rip out those early longarming eyelashes)
4.  LQG Ship charity quilt
5.  LQG Just 6" Squares
6.  2nd Split Decision baby quilt (for a customer!)

Quilted, needs binding
1.  Block Lotto Tall Geese quilt -- hoping for a Friday finish

Completed this week:
Customer quilts #6 & #7.
Sleep bag for son.

 

This brings my WIP count from 39 to 38.

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!

 

Sorting Scraps

I've been bugged by some of my overflowing scrap bins.  I usually sort things by color (strings and scraps down to 2" small).  If it's more than 12" square it's usually not a scrap.  Well, I decided to sort and get rid of some of my fabrics that didn't fit into a color category (aka pretty ugly stuff).  I can't believe how many fabrics I have collected just by people giving them to me.  I have more than four fabrics with cats wearing hats???  How did that happen?  This is just a mess.  Thanks, Accuquilt for helping me get things organized.  Well, here they are all cut up into 2" squares.

 

 

On the Frame -- Block Lotto Geese

Here are the Tall Geese blocks that I won in the May, 2013 Block Lotto.  It should be on and off the frame in a day or so.  I am quilting it in the Baptist Fan pattern to keep it gender neutral, even though I think this quilt is a little masculine with the blue "landing strip" sashing that I used.  I am also using a striped shirting as a backing.

Canoe Ridge Creations QA

There's a giant starburst QA at Canoe Ridge Creations.



Cutting starts Monday, November 25.  Check it out.

I don't know if I'll do this one, but it looks pretty quick.  Lots of white space in the middle for some creative quilting too!

Customer Quilts #6 & #7 are done!

Just in time for Thanksgiving, the customer quilts #6 and #7 are complete (longarming).  She will be able to have them completely done by Christmas.  Whew.  Now I can start concentrating on wrapping up little things here and there before the Bonnie Hunter Mystery begins on 11/29/13.

Here's quilt #7:

 

Finally a change from Circle Lord Swirls.  This design is a board from R & S Designs.  It is called Hearts a Flutter.  It's a larger, heart and hooks type pattern.

 

Here's a small picture of quilt #6.  It went on and off the frame so fast I didn't even take a photo.  The customer requested Circle Lord Swirls on this one too.  She collects scraps smaller than the ones I keep.

 

 

 

 

 

Simple Sleep Bag

A friend gave me tons of this frog fleece.  I decided to use it to make my son a sleep sack.  He used to sleep in sleep sacks when he was a baby to two years old.  He's always kicking off his blankets in the middle of the night and then waking me up saying, "help me please."  It's cute, but it causes me to lose a lot of sleep.  Hopefully this will keep him covered enough to sleep.

He doesn't look very happy in this picture... He still has a runny nose.

It's really long, but he seems to like it that way. 

I used the tutorial here.  Disclaimer... I hope this is "safe" sleepwear.  Please don't make it if you don't feel it is safe for your child.

I'm happy to link up with Richard and Tanya Quilts for the Link-A-Finish FRIDAY.

 

I'm also linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts:

http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/

 

What's in your head?

This post is really for my reference.  This is the head of my Nolting 23" longarm.  I had to place a service call because I broke off the screw that held in the needle.  It was easier to replace the needle bar than to tap out the broken screw piece.  (Had my husband been home it would have been a different story, but he was working out of town for five weeks at the time.)  Now I have some spare parts and I know what it looks like in there.  I love how this machine was built with quality in mind.  I got to see the wicks and that it was being oiled nicely.  Chalk this up to a learning experience.  I also got great advice on tension, quilt loading, and my bobbin winder.  I even got a personal timing lesson.  Money well spent.

WIP Wednesday 11.20.13

Here's what happened this week:

I finished longarming this customer quilt (#6):

 

I finished this little charity quilt for our local quilt guild.

 

 

I made this 5-minute infinity scarf--and wore it this week.

 

 

Here's the quilt I pulled out of the box that will be the next charity quilt for our local guild.

 

 

I finished the first week of blocks for the Downton Abbey Mystery QA.  This picture does not really do the fabric colors justice.

 

 

 

I entered this quilt on the Remembering Veterans Quilts contest at Quilting Gallery.  There's still time to vote!!!  VOTE now!  I'm still waiting to hear from my friend in Brazil that he has received it.  You can cast you vote here:  http://quiltinggallery.com/2013/11/15/voting-time-remembering-veterans-quilts/

 

 

New Projects 

1.  Snowman mini quilt #1 (red)

2.  Snowman mini quilt #2 (light blue)

3.  Snowman mini quilt #3 (batik blue)

4.  Downton Abbey Mystery QA



Pieces Still Need to be Cut & Sewn

1.  Herringbone OSU quilt

2.  Digging up Bones (Owen's dinosaur quilt) -- Gave blocks to LQG Round Robin swap 4.23.13
3.  Quilt Doodle Designs BOM (one more month to go!!!)
4.  Rock Island Campfire Quilt
5.  Picadilly Circle
6. ...And Sew On BOM at Quiet Play (one block to go)
7.  MSBHQAL (Molli Sparkles Broken Herringbone Quilt Along)

Blocks Still Need to be Made
1.  NY Beauty
2.  Orca Bay
3.  We Can Do It Skill Builder Sampler
4.  Red/White Flower Basket Quilt
5.  Maroon Star Sampler Quilt
6.  Color coordinated hexagon quilt
7.  Gourmet Quilter Sampler
8.  Bluepatch Mystery Quilt
9.  Amanda Murphy Designs (ugly fabric quilt)
10.  Drunkard's Path Variation baby quilt
11.  Finding Nemo Scrappy Trip quilt

Blocks are made but need to be sewn together (and/or some sashing)
1.  Block Swap Adventure Sampler (2011-2012)
2.  Butterfly Blocks (that I won)
3.  Orange/Blue Fish Blocks (that I won)
4.  Split Stars (blocks won from Block Lotto; October, 2012)
5.  African Violet baby quilt (Block Lotto inspired)
6.  Tall Fly (blocks won from Block Lotto; January 2013)

Quilts back needs to be made (tops are done)
1.  Grandma's WIP -- Cameo Rose (this one is a long-term project)
2.  Grandma's WIP #2 (This is also a long-term project)

3.  Snowman mini quilt (red #1)

Ready to longarm
1.  Dutchman's Puzzle
2.  Scrappy Christmas QA (I think I am going to straight-line quilt this one.)
3.  Spring Mystery 2013 (still need to rip out those early longarming eyelashes)
4.  Geese blocks from May 2013 Block Lotto
5.  LQG Ship charity quilt
6.  LQG Just 6" Squares

7. Sue's quilt #7

8.  2nd Split Decision baby quilt (for a customer!)

Quilted, needs binding

Completed this week:

1. Child's Charity Quilt for LQG

2.  Sue's quilt #6

  This brings my WIP count from 38 to 39.

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!

 

 

 

 

Just Squares Charity Quilt for LQG

I'm hoping to do something fun with this quilt now that I'm all done with the customer Circle Lord Swirls.  This is another charity quilt I found in our local quilt guild box.  It's a little larger than the baby quilts that were in the box.  Our guild is in need of larger quilts, so it seemed fitting that I do this one.  Maybe I will try Baptist Fan again to keep this quilt gender neutral.

Mystery Downton Abbey QA - Titanic

The first block in the Downton Abbey Mystery QA with Ebony Love at Lovebug Studios is called the Titanic.  We needed to make four blocks.  I am working from my stash instead of purchasing the Downton Abbey line from Andover Fabrics.  Here's my four blocks.

My Fuji camera made these pics not really look like the fabric colors used.  I think they look better in person.

It's Voting Time

It's voting time at Quilting Gallery.  This week the category is Remembering Veterans Quilts.  This Veterans Day (2013) I mailed my Scrappy Swoon QA quilt to a childhood friend as a surprise.  This is the first Quilt of Valor that I made.  I dedicated it to my dad, "Red".  Dad was a WWII veteran.
You can cast you vote here:  http://quiltinggallery.com/2013/11/15/voting-time-remembering-veterans-quilts/

 

Giveaway today at Freckled Whimsy blog.  This one is sponsored by Connecting Threads!  There will be THREE winners!!!  Whohoo!  Check it out...

http://www.freckledwhimsy.com/2013/11/sponsor-giveaway-time.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FreckledWhimsy+%28Freckled+Whimsy%29

On the Frame Today

Here is the quilt that is on my longarm frame now.  It is for a customer that has requested Circle Lord Swirls.  This is a Bonnie Hunter free pattern called Star Struck.  You can find it here.  I'm linking up with Jo at Jo's Country Junction here.  The customer picked up this quilt tonight and was very happy with it.  Whohoo!

 

Here's a close-up.  I LOVE her scrappy quilts!!!

 

Don't worry.  We'll have nicer pictures soon, I hope.  I ordered my new camera online yesterday.  These pictures are taken with my antique cell phone.  LOL.

 

Friday Finish 11.15.13

I finished this little charity quilt for my local quilt guild today.  Someone donated the top.  I longarmed it and put the binding on it.  This is the first time I used jersey knit on the back.  I have a feeling that this little quilt will be soft soft soft with the polyester batting and the jersey knit.  Amazingly, the thread only broke three times on the top.  The needle never flexed.  There are no skipped stitches!  Whohoo!  This little quilt measures 41" x 56".

 

I quilted it with my usual Circle Lord Swirls.  Sorry if you are getting bored seeing my swirls.  I really need to add the Circle Lord Cosmos to my Christmas list!  It's just that my swirls are currently taped to my longarm table.  I have three more customer quilts to finish before I take them off of there.

I'm happy to link up with Richard and Tanya Quilts for the Link-A-Finish FRIDAY.

 

I'm also linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts:

http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/

 

And then I'm linking up with Michelle's Romantic Tangle -- Let's Make Baby Quilts!

 

http://mychellem.blogspot.com/2013/11/lets-make-baby-quilts-week-45.html

5-Minute Infinity Scarf

Ya gotta love Pinterest!  I decided to make a five-minute infinity scarf.  I had this thin fabric I didn't know how else I would use it.  There's a girl at my church that wears adorable scarves all the time.  The thin fabric is black with blue dots.  I'll be able to wear it with my black jeans or blue jeans.  I'm not really in to fashion, but I think it's really cute.  Oh, and did it take me five minutes?  No, it really took me ten minutes.  Follow the tutorial at Sweet C's Designs here.  Here's the original pin that I had here.    I think I might need one in flannel (and now that I think about it a nice lady gave me a lot of plaid wool too!  Cute cute!  Look how good my little helper held it for me!

WIP Wednesday 11.13.13

Here's what happened this super busy week:

I dropped my good Nikon camera.  :(  Now I'm using my back-up Fujifilm camera that I bought with a Groupon...  I completed this little Big Bird panel quilt.

 

I'm pretty sure I decided upon my colors for my Celtic Solstice (Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt) (photo below from the Quiltville site.)

 

 

Neutrals

Maroon (in place of Bonnie's yellow)

Grey (in place of Bonnie's orange)

Brown (in place of Bonnie's green)

Pink (in place of Bonnie's blue)

 

I need pinks and greys.  I have tons tons tons of browns and enough maroons.  I am a little nervous changing colors like this.  When I changed colors for Orca Bay it didn't go so well and the blocks are still in a bag.  I'm not 100 percent thrilled with the Easy Street colors from last year.  I LOVE some of the Easy Streets out there in blog land.  These colors are also scraps pulled for a Fons & Porter quilt that I just love and have been wanting to do for a while.  I have the pattern book above my desk, but I just can't put my finger on which one.  I'll look for that some day when I'm bored.  That quilt won't be made until about February of 2014.

I started my Snowman Mini Quilt -- Thank goodness I found my Debbie Mumm book!  I cut these pieces in July while on a camping trip.

 

I was a little nervous when this is what my strip set looked like to be cut in 1.5" sections.

 

 

I started sewing this on Monday afternoon... Now it's the completed quilt top!  This pattern is a Debbie Mumm pattern in Quick Country Quilting.  I think I need to cut out a blue one tomorrow.  I LOVE how the little 1" checkerboard border came out -- it really makes the quilt.

 

 

I longarmed this blue quilt for a customer

Looking through my WIPs in the boxes upstairs I found this charity quilt that someone in our local quilt guild made.  I made a back and loaded it on the frame to finish between customer quilts.

 

I finished the November Quilt Doodle Designs BOM block.

 

 And here's the whole quilt so far.  One block to go! 

I selected fabrics for the Downton Abbey Mystery QA.



I entered this charity quilt in the contest for close-up quilting at Quilting Gallery.  The last time I checked I only had four votes :(



New Projects
1.  Snowman Mini Quilt (TOP COMPLETE ALREADY!!!)
2.  Downton Abbey Mystery QA
3.  Celtic Solstice -- I've made a decision on fabrics!



Pieces Still Need to be Cut & Sewn

1.  Herringbone OSU quilt
2.  Digging up Bones (Owen's dinosaur quilt) -- Gave blocks to LQG Round Robin swap 4.23.13
3.  Quilt Doodle Designs BOM (one more month to go!!!)
4.  Rock Island Campfire Quilt
5.  Picadilly Circle
6.  Snowman quilt (pattern from Debbie Mum's book)
7. ...And Sew On BOM at Quiet Play
8.  MSBHQAL (Molli Sparkles Broken Herringbone Quilt Along)

Blocks Still Need to be Made
1.  NY Beauty
2.  Orca Bay
3.  We Can Do It Skill Builder Sampler
4.  Red/White Flower Basket Quilt
5.  Maroon Star Sampler Quilt
6.  Color coordinated hexagon quilt
7.  Gourmet Quilter Sampler
8.  Bluepatch Mystery Quilt
9. Amanda Murphy Designs (ugly fabric quilt)
10.  Drunkard's Path Variation baby quilt
11.  Finding Nemo Scrappy Trip quilt

Blocks are made but need to be sewn together (and/or some sashing)
1.  Block Swap Adventure Sampler (2011-2012)
2.  Butterfly Blocks (that I won)
3.  Orange/Blue Fish Blocks (that I won)
4.  Split Stars (blocks won from Block Lotto; October, 2012)
5.  African Violet baby quilt (Block Lotto inspired)
6.  Tall Fly (blocks won from Block Lotto; January 2013)

Quilts back needs to be made (tops are done)
1.  Grandma's WIP -- Cameo Rose (this one is a long-term project)
2.  Grandma's WIP #2 (This is also a long-term project)

Ready to longarm
1.  Dutchman's Puzzle
2.  Scrappy Christmas QA (I think I am going to straight-line quilt this one.)
3.  Spring Mystery 2013 (still need to rip out those early longarming eyelashes)
4.  Geese blocks from May 2013 Block Lotto
5.  LQG Ship charity quilt
7.  LQG Just 6" Squares

8. Child's Charity Quilt for LQG

9.  Sue's quilt #5

10. Sue's quilt #6

11. Sue's quilt #7

12.  2nd Split Decision baby quilt (for a customer!)

Quilted, needs binding

 This brings my WIP count from 41 to 42.

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!