Sunday, December 26, 2010

Stashbusting

Fabric Added - 0 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date - 69.75 yards
Fabric Used - 3.5 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 207.25 yards
YEAR TO DATE STASH USED: 137.5 yards

Of course, I had no time to buy fabric this week. Not a bad year actually!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

2011 UFO Challenge

Here is my UFO list for JudyL's 2011 UFO Challenge

1. Log Cabin Blocks - 2001 - ready for quilting

2. Lost Socks - 60 blocks - ready for quilting

3. Americana Block Swap - 2007 - needs borders - Borders added 4/1/11

4. RR Snow Globe - 2006 - ready for quilting

5. Square Dance - Halloween - ready for quilting

6. Winter Pines - Some blocks made - FINISHED 1/30/11

7. Butterfly Block Swap - 2006 - top - FINISHED 8/27/11

8. Guild Row-by Row - Kansas Troubles - rows

9. Homespun Cats - 2006 - ready for quilting

10. Christmas Tree Lotto Blocks - ready for quilting - FINISHED 2/17/11

I may put 11 & 12 together:
11. Pinwheel #8 QuiltersCache blocks - 16 blocks These are the pinwheels blocks in this photo

12. Guild Round Robin - 1930's - ready for quilting - this is the center of this photo.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Make me a promise.....

...that before the sun sets today, you will tell each of your children how much you love them.


Those we love remain with us
for love itself lives on,
and cherished memories never fade
because a loved one's gone.
Those we love can never be more than a thought apart,
for as long as there is memory, they'll live on in our heart.



Cory Wasmuth
4/3/88 - 12/21/10

Cory is Dan's youngest son and made his home in Colorado. He must have believed that his job here was finished, as he ended his life early Tuesday morning. We'll never know exactly why and that means an endless stream of what-if's for us to deal with.

Cory and I didn't always see eye-to-eye, but there will always be a special place in my heart for this fine young man.

Napkins and Lots of Embroidery

I worked on these fabric tree napkins for a co-worker last night. I hope she likes them.


Across the room, my embroidery machine was stitching away. Well, with lots of help from me, as it's not as automatic as I might like it to be.

First up was these towels my friend Adrienne brought over. Her daughter is giving these to her boyfriends parents.



And a tennis towel:



Then these fleece throws that Janet brought:




Oops, I have no idea where the name Lilly came from, it was supposed to be Ryan. Maybe I'm not as good at multi-tasking as I thought....



Thank goodness I have my Christmas shopping done and have time for these little jobs for my friends.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Stashbusting

Fabric Added - 8.5 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date - 69.75 yards

Fabric Used - 13.5 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 203.75 yards

YEAR TO DATE STASH USED: 134 yards

I bought fabric to make the t-shirt quilt and used almost every bit of it.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Too busy to blog?

Well, it sure seems like it!

So far this week I put together a t-shirt quilt, quilted the strip twist quilt and now the t-shirt quilt is loaded and half quilted. I also cut, sewed and pressed the binding strips for both quilts, attended a guild Christmas party, watched 4 episodes of 24 - Season 8, decorated the Christmas tree and picked out fabric for 2 more crayon bags...(and worked 8-5 too).

No pics to show you just yet, maybe tomorrow.

Monday, December 13, 2010

stashbusting



Nothing purchased, and a little used

Fabric Added - 0 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date - 61.25 yards

Fabric Used - 5.125 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 190.25 yards

YEAR TO DATE STASH USED: 129 yards

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Catching Up on BOM & Embroidered Towels

I never did finish the Cheryl's Quilt Shop BOM that was due the last Saturday in November. I was in New York, so I didn't worry about getting it finished. All done now...both of them!

All year I have been planning to set these blocks different than the one hanging in the shop. I would really like a queen size quilt, so I may add these to the 12 1930's blocks I have from an online swap.



While I was sewing these blocks, my embroidery machine across the room was humming along on these towels for A & E. I bought the mitts at Kohl's, but they didn't have towels even close to the colors. I stopped at Target last night and they did. I can't believe how close they match. Turned out nice, I think!

Monday, December 6, 2010

The Dresden Plates



This one is finished, binding and all. I'll ship it to Mary tomorrow and can't wait to see what she thinks. Thanks Viki, for the suggestion of pebbles in the center circles. Hobbs 80/20, which by the way has just gone up in price :(
So Fine and bottom line thread.



I love how the back looks:

Design Wall Monday


These blocks were made a couple years ago and put away because I got confused when arranging them. The pattern is Strip Twist by Bonnie Hunter. Our guild has been asked once again to make twin quilts for Visions of Hope, a residential treatment center for young women. All their bedding is lavender and they want purple quilts. Hopefully, I can get this one together and quilted in the next couple of weeks.

Stashbusting

Fabric Added - 6 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date - 61.25 yards

Fabric Used - 24.25 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 185.125 yards

YEAR TO DATE STASH USED: 123.875 yards

I bought quite a bit, in my opinion, but used way more. I finally added my JudyL's mystery quilt to my spreadsheet and that alone was 9.5 yards. 2 yards purchased were for the napkins and 2.25 yards were for the bibs and bag. The other 1.75 yards are because I earned 2 free fat quarters at threads of time and ended up purchasing 5 more to go with the 2 free ones.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Threads of Time Retreat

Janet, Dottie and I drove over to Danville, IL to the Threads and Beds Retreat Center and I got some holiday sewing done. I think I accomplished quite a bit in the short time we were there.

First up was my JudyL mystery quilt that still needed some borders. It always amazes me how much time it takes to pin on and sew borders. I finished this up a little before midnight on Friday. Dottie finished a charity quilt that she was making for our guild.



Got 6+ hours of sleep and the first thing on my agenda was to use up the extra nine patches. I'm not sure what will become of them, but as of now it's just 12" x 12"



Then I made a bag for Elizabeth to hold her tea set (that she's getting for Christmas) and I used the same fabric to make her an apron and one for her dolly, too. Dottie made a really cute apron, but I didn't get a picture of it.



A hooded towel for her dolly was my next project.



Then I added ribbing to these tea towels to make bibs.



Janet wanted to learn how to make pillowcases, so I made 5 of them and I think she ended up making 6, or maybe even more. I took along my serger for the bibs and pillowcases, which made both projects much easier. (I think Janet wants a Serger now!)



Finally, it was time to get out the Go Cutter. I had taken some leftovers from a bag project last year at Christmas and used the tumbler die. It probably took me about 20 minutes to cut them out and the top was finished by about 11:30pm.



I figured I could start something else before turning in so I cut out two of these fabric napkins, just to see if they looked OK. Janet wasn't quite ready for bed, so I stayed up with her until 12:15 and then finally said good night! (Thanks for the great tutorial Lynn!)



Another good nights sleep and I cut out the rest of the napkins and stitched them up.

I pulled another project out of my bag and started sewing a UFO together. It's still in rows and is now on my design wall, waiting for tomorrow's post.

We looked and looked for a Blockbuster to get a cup of coffee!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

How about some custom? And a GO!

I made a backing for the dresden plates tonight and loaded it. I'm almost half done and I'm liking the way it's turning out.



I haven't decided on the sashing yet, or the centers......any ideas?

The FedEx truck stopped at my house tonight and looky what came. My new Accuquilt Go Cutter. I played with it for just a bit, but needed to finish the backing, so more fun with this new toy later.

Angie's Nine Patch Quilt

Another pretty fall quilt....this one was made by Angie, who is a very new quilter. She made this one for her mom for Christmas and boy will her mom be pleased! The nine patch fabrics are Kansas Troubles, I think....yummy!



Quilted with Feather Me panto, Coats & Clark variegated brown/gold thread on top and So Fine in the bobbin, Hobbs 80/20 batting.