1XMAS Project (x2)

I have trouble throwing things away - I love to RECYCLE! So . . . what to do with my small scraps of bitty bits of batting? Save them for a few months, cut them pretty small, take leftover fabrics from other projects, use the gusset technique again (love it) and make three pet beds! I actually started with 2 1/2 bags of bits! One of the beds is for our kitty Hermione, the fabric matches her coloring. This is her favorite hangout spot in my studio. I hope to get a pic of her on it someday! There is a cool side and a snuggle side for winter. The cream is a very warm and fuzzy material, (not quite minke, but close)

The other two are Christmas presents ! One is for Dexter who is a very cute tiny little Japanese Chin and I haven't decided who gets the other one. Lots of kitties and pups to choose from! My last finish for June is this little pillow that my daughter started at a class in Wisconsin. The teacher had her sew it together wrong, she had used a quilting foot and stitches were right on top of each other. It took forever to rip out. It also needed to be clipped and washed, I came across it while cleaning up my studio and asked her if she wanted to finish it. She said no, so I've finished it for her and will surprise her with it tonight. :) Off to Massachusetts for vacation on Monday, Happy Quilting!!

Wild WISP Wielded!

Ever read or say a word and suddenly it seems foreign and clumsy on your tongue? Or keep checking spellcheck because it just looks wrong? Wield is having that effect on me tonight and I haven't had any wine. Perhaps I should pour a glass? Anyway, I have successfully wielded one of my older WISPS, this one was started in January 2004. It is one of the first patterns I ever designed, and wow, what a pain that was! I had put aside quilting in 1997 in favor of scrap booking so that I could creatively document my precious 2 year old's life (DS). I would still do projects and start WISPS, but I had a horrible machine and the local quilt store (at the time) wasn't very helpful. I picked up quilting again after September 11 2001, I found it very comforting. I was caught up with my scrap booking and was at a loss as how to document the events of September 11th for both of my children's scrapbooks, so I simply didn't. We moved to Wisconsin and during the move I "found" fabric in my stash, and not having many books decided to make a pattern. HA! Anyway, it's called Butterflies in the Meadow, I would not piece it the way I did then, cause now I would do it in a much easier way (which would have been faster) but it was ALOT of fun to quilt! I have my purple butterflies with antennae on both ends because most days I don't know if I'm coming or going . . . so why should they?

Unbelievably - all I had to do to finish it was find the rest of the fabric for the border and finish the border on the last side. I had already purchased the backing while in Wisconsin, and the binding was part of the stash. I don't know how to begin to give myself credit for fabric usage - I didn't keep track of what I used on the front, some was yardage, the purple and yellow were fat quarters. I do know that had I finished this in Wisconsin I would not have been brave enough/experienced enough to attempt to quilt it as I have quilted it. I am so happy with the way it turned out, I'm glad I didn't finish it sooner! Happy Quilting!

June Finish

So busy with school finishing up, kids activities heating up! DS got job as a Lifeguard (YAY) which is nice, but since he doesn't have his drivers license I have to drive him and it's 45 minute round trip if traffic is good. DD has huge skating competition on Saturday, lots of practice involved. Got to the beach on Saturday, forgot the camera, but it was nice! Was happy to put this project in the mail today. Should get there in time for his Birthday party on Saturday!I don't know if you can tell, but it reads Happy Birthday Gus. I hope it works out o.k. It was a little slow going, the brown fabric was a nice thick fabric I bought at a quilt store, but once I put the heat n bond (lite) on it and started sewing it on the needle kept getting sticky and the tread shredded. Had never had that happen before, so I blame it on the thicker fabric. Was able to use rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip to clean the needle and then it went alot quicker. Perhaps I should have washed the fabric? Was also able to finish a pretty old WISP ! No picture today as my camera battery is recharging, tomorrow I'll take the pictures. Happy Quilting!

Memorial Day

I didn't intend to show my latest two finishes today, although it is fitting, I just haven't had time on the computer and my hands have been hurting a lot more lately. These are the April and May Quilts of Valor. The Quilts of Valor are made for service members who have been wounded, and unfortunately some of them do not make it through their injuries. We also present the families with a quilt if there has been a service member who was killed from our area. In early May we presented two families with quilts; their Airmen were stationed nearby, but they were in Afghanistan and were shot by an Afghani pilot during a staff meeting. So tragic, so sad. April's quilt was done for awhile and just needed quilting, I have been experimenting with fancier threads and was waiting for a nice variegated red white and blue to quilt it with and then it seemed to take me forever to bind it (as usual) I was at my wit's end with May's quilt, I knew I was already "late" so what to do . . . quickly? During May Guild meeting various members shared quick and easy ideas (with directions) and Isabell Meekens shared her Quick Lasagna quilt made with a Jelly Roll. I knew I had red, white and cream jelly rolls in my stash so I was able to make the quilt in an evening - really! It seemed a bit plain to me, so back to my stash and I added the stars, I added them during the quilting process and also put a batting star 1" smaller underneath and quilted them in place. I used my stash for every bit of these two quilts as well as the two totes in the previous post - sooooo . . 15 2/3 yds out of my stash! Happy Quilting, and God Bless our Service members (and their families) !

One Christmas Item

Been so busy, doing alot, but no finishing alot until . . . Quilt symposium! Our guild hosted the symposium and I took two classes. One was a wool stitching class, not finished, but more fun than I thought it would be. The other class was on how to make a "Chelsea Tote" by Lazy Girl Designs. It's a purse/tote/backpack and soooo cute! It was very easy, and I was able to finish the bag during the 3 hour class. My DD picked out the fabrics (from my stash :D) so I gave her the one I made in class. I had quilted a yard of the "cover" fabric so I had enough to make another which will go to one of the 11 people this year who have been earmarked as getting a purse/tote for Christmas!! The second one turned out nicer as I had more time. I hate throwing anything away, so from the scraps I made the sunglass cases and snap bags. I would have made the sunglass cases wider if I hadn't been using scraps. More to follow soon. Happy Quilting !!

Happy Mother's Day !!

Just a note while the DH and and DD go out to grab some more ingredients for a lovely meal they have planned for me tonight! I have been so busy that I don't just wish for more hours in the day or more days in the week, I want a mini me to start helping out around here! We redid our kitchen this winter and we kept the old cabinets and counter tops. My hubby is putting some in the garage and shed for organizing and I am getting some for my quilting studio! I have been feeling very cluttered and overwhelmed by all of the stuff I have accumulated and while very pleased with all that I have been able to complete since joining OPAM I have also started to realize that I will not be able to "do it all" and that I need to go through it and make some tough decisions . . . A task that previously would depress me, so I would do a bit and then feeling so overwhelmed - do NOTHING for a very long time. Not very productive. Well, I am done waiting for helpful little quilting elves, gnomes or fairies to work their magic while I sleep, I have rolled up my sleeves and have gone to work. The pictures are of some before and some during - which is why it looks like my room was ransacked! Hopefully you will see the "after" photos soon! Not today though - I am getting a pedicure from my DD and I am going to watch a couple of very girly, Jane Austenish movies and eat a yummy meal later! Happy Quilting! Poor Hermione! She walked into the studio, saw the mess everywhere (including her kitty tower) and fell over in a dead faint! Drama kitty! : )

Xmas Project

Good thing this challenge is only 1 Xmas project a month, other wise I'd be in trouble! Here is my Christmas table runner. It is also an UFO that I am happy to finish and I used 1/3 yd for the backing so this helped mark off an item in a few categories! I am working on a quilt for my eldest nephew's Christmas present, but it's taking longer than I thought it would (good thing I got an early start!) Speaking of nephews - my great nephew Gus has received his package, so I can show you some more April finishes! My brother still had his original high chair, which he used for my niece, and then had refinished for his Grandson, my nephew! Well, needless to say the original cushion did not make it and my niece could not find one on line, so they used a quilt and belt until . . .

My niece's husband send the measurements of the chair and my dh made a cardboard replica of the back and seat so I made my pattern from that.
I had never sewn anything remotely like this before, so it took a few tries !

After my first attempt that I realized that I needed something, but wasn't sure what that something was until my niece just happened to send me a link to show me some owls she liked,

sewlittlefabric.blogspot/2011/03/0wl-softie-free-patterntutorial.html (I cannot get the link to work) While reading the instructions I discovered that the "something" I needed was a gusset! Had never heard of it. Kind of sounds like an old fashioned name for some kind of fancy lingerie ! Anyway that did the trick, and I would have never figured it out without Paula's help. Thank you! When my niece came for her latest visit, I didn't have it done, I sent the red & beige trial run to them to make sure it would fit and she brought it back, marked where the ties & belt would go. Gus used it as a play mat while he was here (he seems to like it) To make his mom happy I designed it so that the cushions would be secured by velcro, but she could remove them to wash the cover (I even remembered to prewash it)

I had some quilted fabric left over so I made matching bibs and used leftover bindings to finish them off. 2 2/3 yds fabric OUT! April has been a good recycling month. = ) Happy Quilting !!