First Quilt Finish 2012

I finally got around to taking photos of the first UFO quilt I have completed this year.  You may recognize it from the Charmed Prints Quilt Along from December.  I finished the quilt top and had it basted, but I just didn’t get around to quilting it until the hecticness of the holidays wore off. 

Esther really liked the heart fabric I used in one of the featured blocks on the front, so I used the remainder to make a strip of hearts across the back and put two extra blocks on it, too.

I framed another one of my Spoonflower labels for the back.

This is the first time I’ve done “organic straight line quilting” and I am extremely pleased with how it turned out.  I used a mid-loft polyester batting which I pretty much detest, but it was pretty easy to do the straight line quilting without getting many tucks or wrinkles.

 

After washing and drying it, Esther and Veronica had a birthday party for their stuffed animals on it.

On account of trying straight line quilting for the first time, I am linking up to Happy Quilting’s Trying New Things Thursday.

Block updates

Well, the stomach bug took me by storm.  I always welcome it because I know I’ll get it at least once in the winter and might as well get it over with, and it guarantees a few pounds easy weight loss that I don’t have to work for!

Earlier this week I finished up my first UFO for the new year—the Charmed Prints quilt—but  I haven’t had a chance to photograph it.  I have a hard time getting pictures taken with the kids outside.  Our holly trees have dropped a billion berries on the ground and Veronica is as fast as lightening trying to eat them.  I did snap a photo of all the Farmer’s Wife blocks I have finished so far:

I had to take the photo on our bed because as I was laying them out, Ronnie would pick one up in each hand and high-tail it out of the bedroom, so I had to put them somewhere she couldn’t reach.  (Yes, I have cat flannel sheets and they are super soft and comfy!!!)

I also received my first block in the mail for Beejeebers.  Lindsay from For the Love of Cotton sent me this adorable sock monkey in his house block

and an amazingly generous pile of “scraps” for the wonky log cabin blocks.  I hesitate to call them scraps because there are some really big pieces and some beautiful charms!!!  Thank you so much, Lindsay!!!

On a personal note, Bea turned 6 on Wednesday.  It is hard to believe my baby is already six years old!  (And has already lost 2 baby teeth!)

My sister sent her some Shrinky Dinks for her birthday, which she absolutely loved.

Have a great weekend!!!

Trying New Things Thursday

I actually have three new things I have done in the past week:

1.  Made a quilt top from entirely stash fabrics blogged about here.

2.  Made my first ever felt flower wreath blogged about here.

3.  Had my first giveaway on my blog.  There is still time to enter here.

Wishing everyone a happy Thursday!  I plan on participating in the Friday Night Sew In tomorrow.  I have lots of projects I need to get finished up and get in the mail on Monday or put under the tree.

Linking up to Happy Quilting’s Trying New Things Thursday.

Charmed Prints Quilt Top

Last night during the Friday Night Sew In I finished up the quilt top for the Charmed Prints Quilt Along.  I am really proud of this quilt top! 

It’s not perfect and has some visible errors—two of the pieced blocks on the end of a row were a little too big and points had to be cut off to accommodate the sashing.  But most importantly, I used stash fabrics to create this quilt (the backing and binding are yet to be completed):

• charm pack I won two years ago and forgot the name of
• polka dot sashing I bought on clearance from Connecting Threads
• floral “Whimsy” fabric for the border
• blue Heidi Grace (from Joanns) fabric for the binding
• Kona aqua solid for the backing

It is true that I ordered the butterfly and heart fabric from Fabric.com the week of Thanksgiving, but overall I did a good job using up fabrics from my stash.  And what’s most important is I think they look good together.  There are some projects that I’ve made that I’ve never shared on my blog because they are just…not blogworthy!  Using fabric from my stash is sometimes a real challenge for me because I like the look of all the prints from a collection and am usually less than satisfied with the outcome when I try to pull different fabrics together. 

The sashing is actually while with tiny aqua polka dots, which I like immensely!

Luckily, the quilt does not need to be completed until 12/20, so I’m going to be putting it away for now and working on a few Christmas gifts that I need to get done. 

Computer Woes, A Wreath, & A Quilt Top Finished

Baby Ronnie pulled my mini laptop off the kitchen table earlier this week.  At first there was a line running vertically down the screen and I thought the computer would be okay.  But pretty soon, a quarter of my screen was lines, and then a few hours later, two thirds of the screen was obscured.  It was time to say good-bye to my pretty pink laptop and hello to a new computer.  My hubby ran out to Best Buy the next day and bought me a HUGE laptop.  At first I was kind of sad it was so big and was going to return it and get another mini, but then he told me it might be better for blogging and reading blogs since the screen is so much bigger.  Good thinking!!!  

Esther and I made a pretty felt flower Christmas wreath today while Ronnie speed-napped for 35 minutes.  I saw this beautiful version on the blog Cut to Pieces.  I didn't even have time to Google how to make felt flowers so we just made it up as we went along.  My roses didn't turn out as pretty as the roses on the original (mine were too tightly wrapped), but for a quick project to do with a three year old, they turned out good enough!  I used some pinking shears to cut concentric circles and Esther glued the sparkly puff balls in the center of the flowers.  I used my fall wreath form--just took the orange, brown and cream flowers off since they were only hooked on using alligator clips--and replaced them with these felt flowers and a Christmas-y ribbon.  I'm already looking forward to doing something with hearts for Valentine's Day.

I am linking up to the Friday Night Sew In.  I woke up this morning at 4:30 and sewed for two hours, almost piecing together all the rows of the Charmed Prints Quilt Along quilt.  I just finished them up and added the borders and will post a pic tomorrow after I take a photo when the light is better.

Trying New Things Thursday

My new thing is the churn dash block.  I’d never made one until this morning.  I saw a few examples in the Charmed Prints Quilt Along Flickr group and thought I’d give it a try.

The four blocks included in the quilt are star, pinwheel, diamond, and Greek cross, but a few people pointed out that switching the corner hsts will make churn dash blocks, so I decided to give it a try.  I started working on the layout of all the blocks and can’t wait to get the sashing sewn on.

Ronnie had a trying new things first today, too.  Her big sisters love to paint, but since she’s not even a year old yet, she’s never gotten to participate—except meddling in their paints and making a grand mess of the kitchen floor and windows!  So I sat her up in her highchair with some fingerpaints today and she LOVED it!

By the end there was more paint on her clothes and high chair than on paper, but it was worth it for all the smiles (plus, less paint all over the kitchen)!

I’m linking up this post to Trying New Things Thursday on Happy Quilting.