When you are too tired to sew....

This is what happens when you are too tired to be sewing:

 

These are leftovers from a quilt started decades ago--before rotary cutters.  The pieces were pretty uneven, so I didn't worry about making things match, but even loosening up on that, I still managed to mess up the directions of the rows.  To fix it, it was either pick out two rows to make it zig zag or pick out one row to make it uniform.  I chose the one row. 

 

Here it is again after quilting it.  I was amazed at how much the quilting helped hide. Now I just need to find some binding to finish it up.

 

 

I'm also working on a quilt for a nephew's second baby.  We don't know if it is a girl or a boy yet, but I am making a girl quilt that coordinates with the quilt I made their first child, just on the off chance this one will also be a girl. (The first quilt was the Star Surround, found here.)  Here's the new quilt in progress:

 

 

The colors of the original quilt were mint green, yellow, pink and white, but I really had to "stretch" the mint greens as mint green fabrics are hard to find right now.  This is all sewn together, and now I'm working on piecing a back for it.  I suspect we'll learn it's a boy about the time I get the back done! :)

 

Happy Stitching!

 

A Finish!

Hooray!  My Star Surround is finished!

The Star Surround was made during a wonderful quiltalong hosted by Melissa at Happy Quilting .  Melissa had such great instructions, it was an easy way to make a quilt. 

To see the parade of all the lovely finished quilts, go here.  It's fun to see how the different fabrics and different sized blocks change the way the design looks. 

Front

 

This isn't perfect, but I actually managed to quilt it myself, despite an angry shoulder.  Luckily the baby isn't a quilter (yet) so she probably won't notice the rough spots and longer stitches.   

 

Back

 

One thing I did learn (note to self), is if you make a two sided quilt, you have to have a design that works on both sides, and unless you can line the two sides up perfectly, you shouldn't plan on using straight lines or things that follow the blocks of the one side if the quilting won't look right on the other side. 

 

This swirly quilt design solved the problem and worked great for both sides. 

Also, if you choose a thread that won't show much, you shouldn't be surprised to find you can't see where you are at when you are quilting and lose track!  (This is Aurifil 50 wt.)

Another thing I learned is that when you use a batting that shrinks a bunch, it might be a good idea to wash the quilt after it is quilted, but before sewing the binding on.  The batt I used was Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon cotton, which I used to use years ago, but I don't remember that much shrinkage (or having to quilt as close as every 2 inches).

My quilt now has little waves in the binding area that weren't there before I washed it, and the shrinking was significant (it now measures 44 1/2", but it started out  at a finished 48" (in theory only since I didn't measure but it was close to that.)  I do like the old fashioned crinkled look the batting gave the quilt, though.

Putting the binding on by machine worked pretty slick.  After I stitched it on the first side, I used Elmer's School Glue to glue the other side in place then stitched it (hoping for the best) and except for one area, (and another I just noticed) it was perfect--well, good enough, and done beats perfect!

Now I just need the baby's name to make a label. 


I think this is the earliest I've ever finished a gift--the baby isn't even due until November.  Boy, it sure feels good to have finally finished something!  And thanks again, Melissa, for hosting such a lovely quiltalong!

Happy Stitching!

A different finish...

My Star Surround top should be finished by now.  It only lacks one final seam.  But my usual procrastination happened on the way to the finish. 

I thought I would work ahead and get the back ready.  I didn't have enough of the fabric I bought specifically for the back (and the mother-to-be).  So after much calculating, I figured out a way to piece it with minimum effort and keeping all the little people heads upright.  So, I grabbed the cutter and....cut the wrong fabric.  Whoops!  Definitely did not have enough fabric now.  What to do? Well make another Star Surround, of course. 

Now I have one Star Surround finished--just not the one I've been working on.  All little heads properly upright too.

 

I think I'll use it for the back of my original Star Surround--when I finally sew that last seam.  An unintended reversible quilt.  I hope it will line up okay for quilting, and not be too odd when it's finished if I get things off centered a bit.  (The colors look better in real life--we've a drab day here.)



 

I also finished one more Flower Garden block.  With a little luck, someday I might just finish all the flowers.  I wonder how many more years it might take to finish the four borders....









 


And lucky me--I won a book!  Can hardly wait to put it to use on another new project! :) It looks like grand fun for making leaf shapes and especially the borders. 

Many thanks to Kathleen who blogs at Kathleen Murphy Designs (and who makes spectacular quilts that I often drool over with envy and admiration). 

The book uses the Leaves Galore Template.  Do any of you own these templates?  Which size would be best to get?  Or does it depend on the project?  Guess I better read the book first. :)

Happy Stitching!

A little progress...

A little more progress on the Star Surround quilt along--the blocks are sewn, and one row is together.  I'm a little ahead, but need to clean up the sewing room, so I'm anxious to get this done, or at least in one piece.

Also managed to finish one more Flower Garden block.

And managed to find the carpet in my sewing room.  Still have to dig out the cutting mat and my favorite scissors, though.  I'm sure they're under there somewhere.  And no, no photo of that--wouldn't want to scare you!

Happy Stitching!

The Geese Are Flying.....

Although fall isn't in the air yet (it is still hot hot), the geese are already flying.......

Got off to a slow start, but finally finished the geese for the Star Surround Quilt Along this evening.  It's not too late for you to join in--the directions are here.

I'm looking forward to next week, when we start sewing the blocks together.  And, HOORAY--found out this week that the baby I was hoping to give this to is a girl!

Happy Stitching!

Should be, Seem to be, and Actually Am Doing...

My last post was about what I'd been doing (while not posting).  But, I completely forgot to mention what I AM doing.

Should be doing:  No question, I should be working on a quilt I am making for a gift.  I'd show you, but I am keeping it a secret.  (You've seen it before--before I knew it was going to be a gift, but I don't want to remind someone)  And since I'm not doing it, what's to show anyway?  :)  It just seems so uninspiring and unexciting....even though it is close to being put together. 

And, decisions always get in the way of finishing.  I'm to the point of trying to piece the back, and don't like what I've done.  So I AM procrastinating about it.  If I wait long enough, won't it look better?

Seem to be doing:  In a prior post I showed the pink hexagon quilt, and mentioned I was Pinked OUT.  Cutting all those hexagons, left an abundance of pink, black and red scraps.  What to do? 

The garbage can beckoned.   I could not force myself to sew more pink and black together.  But being too frugal to throw away good scraps, I experimented with adding more colors--didn't photograph them, sorry. 

After much trying, I settled on lime-ish green as the antidote to pink.  I added some green triangles, some paler pinks, and some white/lights, and took out the reds.  I even had to buy some greens to have enough variety.  (This is an excellent example of how using up scraps just breeds more scraps and more UFOs.  Note to self:  Next time just give scraps away--you will have fewer and save money spent trying to make them work!)

This has been on my design wall for a couple months....

Progress is awfully slow.  Somehow sewing a row a week just doesn't seem to be accomplishing much.  But, I AM working on it--sometimes.

Actually am doing:  Yes, I AM actually doing something else.  Something unnecessary, but that just seemed more fun.  (Add one more unfinished project to the list.) 

I blame Heather who blogs at Happy Appliquer for my new project. :)  Heather blogged about a quilt along she was participating in.  It sounded fun, so I took a look--just a tiny peek actually.   (The Star Surround Quilt Along is being hosted by Melissa who blogs at Happy Quilting .) 

I only intended to read about it.  But Melissa had different sizes, all so organized.  I did need a baby quilt.  So I took another look.  And then another one.  The next thing I knew, I was back in the sewing room yanking fabrics out, trying to find 9 that looked good together.  (I wasn't going to buy new fabrics because I was just "seeing" if I could find 9).  A girl needs to use her stash, right?  I made a wonderful mess.

Stack One

Stack Two

Pretty soon I had a big stack of fabrics I liked--far more than 9.  In fact I ended up with two stacks of girly fabric.

Then another stack for a boy.  Since I don't know if the baby is a girl or boy, maybe I could make two?  (No, No, NO!  Get real.  It will be a miracle to get even one finished.) 

Boyish Stack

Since I couldn't decide on only 9 fabrics, I went back to the instructions, and decided to make every fabric (except the background) different.  (Yay!  27 fabrics--more is always more fun!) 

 

Last night I cut out the fabrics.  In looking at the squares, I actually used only 26 fabrics.  In all of my stash, I did not have enough of the right green. (and several greens I did have are a newer purchase or are a bit of a stretch colorwise, which may get swapped out)  Guess that means I'll have to do some shopping for minty green.

 

Today I finished sewing the first step, the half square triangles.   Now I'm all ready for the next step!

Bunches of trimmings were left afterward.  I put these in a garbage can lined with an open fabric pillow/bag.  When it's full, it will be sewn closed and make a pillow for a kitty at the animal shelter.  Good for the kitty, uses up waste trimmings, and helps me use fabrics I wouldn't have used otherwise for the bag.  And, I can always tell myself that starting a new project is good for a homeless kitty. 

 

Cut, cut, cut!  Let's make a kitty more comfortable, right?

 

And now that I'm all caught up, I guess I'll go see what other trouble I can get into.  Maybe sew a row of triangles?  Doubtful.  But I could clean up a little, and see what happens.  Maybe some more scraps have been breeding, and I do need to figure out a quilt for Stack Two and Boyish Stack, don't I? 

No, I'll be good.  I'm going to work on a block for my Flower Garden quilt--if I can find it.....

 Happy Stitching!