Tag: Quilt

Ohhh Happy Day…and the Hand Quilt Along

I got annoyed with the scales on the fish on my last block and had to set it down.  The Octopus was much more fun anyway.  This is part of the someday under the sea quilt I have planned…..in my head…..

Please visit all the lovely ladies of the Hand Quilt along and see what they have been up to.  They never disappoint.

Kathy, Lori, Margaret, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Susan,  Nanette,  Edith, Sharon, Karrin, and Gretchen

So, why happy day?…well, I got a job.  It has been 5 long months of me feeling sorry for myself, which does you help you get a job.  And…I got a job I wanted.

You would have thought that I would have spent 5 months off sewing up a storm, but I did not.  I did sew, but I did not get much accomplished, and I mostly ignored my blog.  Now I look back and feel stupid.  Kevin (AKA man friend),  never wavered.  He said I he always knew I would get another job.  He only wanted me to have one I liked, not one I took to pay the bills, like last time, and then I was miserable.  It is a good distance from home, but that is OK.

I am up to a 25 lb. weight loss, but am currently celebrating, so I don’t plan on losing anything this week.  Hopefully the weight loss plan will get back in swing with the new job.  Having a routine will make it easier for me.

It is birthday week at our house.  My oldest daughter had her birthday this past Thursday and my youngest (and my late husband Derrick) is on Tuesday.  We had a lovely birthday dinner , champagne chicken and red velvet cake.

I hope I am on my way back to myself.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure your Family

Hand Quilt Along and One monthly Goal

I am still alive.  The weather in Ohio stinks.  Snowing again.  I am so over winter.

Not much progress on the hand quilt along, but there is a bit.  Thought I would get this one done while my daughter took her midterm yesterday, but that did not happen. Ended up talking to a friend on the phone instead.  Haley aced the midterm for medical terminology at Columbus State.  Got a 98%!  Woo hoo.  Not bad for a 14-year-old.  Sometimes, she is like her mother.  LOL

This is a block for my someday, under the sea quilt.  Hopefully, I will have more progress soon.  Please visit all the wonderful ladies and view their wonderful work.  They are awesome.

I missed out on the one Monthly Goal last month, so I need to get moving.  I am going to WaterMark_2018-06-16-21-26-44finish the Star Wars quilt.  Quilt and bind.  That is the plan.   I hope it finishes better than the photo.  Not to fond of it right now.  I plan on quilting stars with my ruler.  We will see what happens.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure your Family

 

Ugh…….

I soooooo don’t feel like myself.  I really need to get out of this funk.

I need to apologize to the wonderful ladies in the hand quilt along.  I had no post.  Mostly because I find myself sitting on the couch staring into the abyss instead of doing my hand work.  Please take the time to visit them and see all the wonderful work that they do.

Kathy, Margaret, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Susan,  Nanette,  Edith, Sharon, Karrin, and Gretchen

The Puzzle Quilt

So, the above pictured quilt I have names the puzzle quilt.  Why?  Well, my dear friend Nanette, sent me a bunch of blocks and pieces to this quilt (well, not really this quilt, but a quilt).  So, I took all the pieces that I had and figured out what I could make.  I don’t know what the quilt was originally intended to look like, but this is what I came up with.  The only thing I added was the black borders.  My daughter has claimed this quilt since it is her school colors and is referring to it as the Triad quilt.  I found it very fun and challenging to figure something out.  I wish I had taken pictures of what I started with, but got involved and completely forgot.

Table Runner for a gift

watermark_2019-02-18-17-25-46.jpgSo, I needed a gift, so I created this table runner.  It was actually a challenge I started last year about this time and never finished.  I don’t do well with quilting deadlines.  I used those cupcake papers (Like the layer cake ones, only for charms).

They have a purpose and I get it, but all the paper everywhere makes me a little crazy.  Also, these pin wheels are pretty small, so it is bulky where the seams come together.  I will likely use the papers again, but I am not a fan of these small pinwheels.  One it is complete, I don’t think it will look too bad.

On a positive note, I have lost 20 lbs.  Woohoo.  Only 5 million more to go.  That is about the only positive that I can find.  I am still unemployed, which totally stresses me out.  I know it is a process and it will happen, but I don’t do well with things I can’t control.

Today, while I was wallowing in self-pity, I did take a moment to notice the beauty

around me.  I took these beautiful pictures of snowflakes in my daughter’s hair.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure your Family

 

My One Monthly Goal for January…Tada

All done, quilted and even hung up in the kitchen Nook.

So, My one monthly goal was to quilt and bind my jars.  Since my jars were pretty wonky I chose a bit of a different layout.  My daughter asked my they were not neatly spaced on the shelf.  uhhh  “This is our house, how does everything else look?”  Daughter:  “Oh ya…right.  actually neater than our pantry”.  So, it looks like it belongs in our house. It looks great hanging in the kitchen.

This “Ancient Alien” is now complete.

 

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure your Family

 

A Cute Table Runner…..

So, I made this table runner, however, I can not receive full credit.  Nanette – doitrightquilter.com sent me a box of miscellaneous items and fabric.  These adorable little blocks were in the box.  I hung them up on my design wall until I figured out what I was going to do with them.  They were just to cute to ignore.

So I arranged them until I had them the way I wanted and sewed them up.  I did a small watermark_2019-01-19-15-25-06meander for my quilting.  Oddly making sure I kept the meandering small and similar in size, was not an easy task.  I kept having to check myself to make sure I was not getting bigger as I went along.  I used a light variegated thread and I did not quilt any of the prints (except background fabrics).  I wanted to give the blocks a bit of a 3-D look.  It worked for the most part.

I really enjoyed making this.  I am currently working with some other blocks that Nanette sent me.  It is sort of like a quilt puzzle.  I  take what I have and see where it fits together.  Thank you Nanette!.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure your Family

That is all she wrote (or did) for the HQA

Yep, three flowers is all I got completed for the Hand Quilt Along.  I guess it is better than nothing.  I also did some binding….so I guess my fingers are a bit sore.  I try to wear a thimble which is sometimes successful, but other times I find them annoying.

Here in central Ohio we have had Snowmageddon this past weekend.  Everyone was freaking out.  No parking at the grocery store (I heard) so I opted to go grocery shopping at midnight on the eve of Snowmageddon.  All I can say is, ridiculous.  Nothing on the shelves and I still stood in line for 20 minutes.  While we did get more snow than I am used to seeing here in central Ohio, compared to what I grew up with, it is nothing.  Please visit all the wonderful ladies participating in the Hand Quilt ALong and see their progress.

Kathy, Margaret, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Susan,  Nanette,  Edith, Sharon, Karrin, and Gretchen

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure your Family

Spray Basting with very little space

I have heard many people say that basting, especially spray basting takes a lot of space.  I may have a solution.  I managed to spray baste my star wars quilt in a small amount of space that would equal a kitchen counter.

WARNING….You will see my very messy sewing space.

So, my quilting friend Lynn, taught me this trick.

You buy Pipe wrap (for insulating your water pipes).  It is cheap,  about three dollars for 4 pieces that are about 4 ft each.  I bought a total of 8.  Then you buy 2- 8ft. PVC pieces and have them cut in half (The nie people at lowe’s or Home Depot will do this for you if you don’t have anyone at home or can’t transport 8ft long PVC pipe).  They are about three dollars each.  I use the PVC pipe to put two pieces of the pipe insulation together and add stability.

1.) Cover your surface-especially if you are using your counters.  I buy vinyl tablecloths watermark_2019-01-15-13-33-49watermark_2019-01-15-19-51-30(especially after a holiday they are super cheap).

2.) take 2 pieces of pipe wrap and place a piece of the PVC between them.

3.) Evenly pin your backing to the pipe insulation.  Use as many pins as you feel you need.  Roll up your backing, keeping it smooth.

4.)  Then, do the same with your batting.  Smooth out as you go.

5.) Next, we begin spraying the batting to the backing.  LIne them up and spray a couple watermark_2019-01-15-19-52-08.jpgof inches clear across the top to get it started.  Lay the batting on the backing and smooth out.  Continue to apply baste spray a few inches at a time.  Roll the completed backing and batting onto the pipe insulation until you have it all spray basted.  As you roll the basted backing and batting on to the insulation tube, you can ensure there are no wrinkles.  If you find some, unroll and re-smooth.

6.)  Next we are ready to baste the top to the batting and backing.  Take your roll with the backing and batting and unroll a bit.  Line up the roll that contains your top.  Spray a few inches across the batting watermark_2019-01-15-20-47-09and position your top.  Continue to spray baste and roll onto the pipe insulation as you go.  Make sure to smooth as you go.  Keep spraying and rolling until you have it complete.

7.) You should now have your quilt basted and rolled up nice and neat on the pipe insulation.  It will stay all nice and neat until you are ready to quilt.

You could prepare multiple quilts and store them on the pipe insulation for very little watermark_2019-01-16-15-41-14money.  They will stay rolled up an unwrinkled until you are ready to quilt them.

I hope that someone finds this beneficial.  It was very helpful to keep things nice neet and flat until I was ready to quilt.  It also stopped me from having to “clean up my area”(pool table) in order to spray baste.  I only needed the width of my quilt and about a foot of the length in order to complete the spray baste.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure your Family

 

 

 

 

An Ancient Alien—UFO

This is an ancient Alien.  Can you tell I am a Science nerd?  Yes, I have watched that show.  My daughter and I even have nick names for some of the people.  If you have ever watched it, you will know who Crazy Hair is.

I started this quilt about 20 years ago.  It was oddly a paper pieced project.  I obviously had no idea what I was doing.  I am not sure how a paper pieced project could have blocks so wonky.  I don’t think there are any 2 the same size.  I actually think I participated in a fabric swap for food fabric.  I still have a ton left, but I think it’s time to see if I can make a wall hanging that does not look too awful.  If it comes out, I have a spot in my kitchen across from my pantry for it.

This will be my One monthly Goal.  My plan is to complete it entirely.  We will see.  It may be to wonky to put together.  I also seemed to use a lot of starch back then.  weird.

If any of you need some pieces (maybe 5×7″) food fabric let me know.  I have a stack.  I was going to use them on the back, but just went with black.

20180917_134023

SISTER STORY

So, I have been having such a difficult time with the loss of my sweet sister Kellie.  It had affected me far more than I expected.  I know loss all to well, but this one is so very different for me.  Anyways….. I was coming home from the grocery store today…alone (very unusual) and thinking.  I had not dreamed about Kellie since she died. It bothers me a lot.  So, I talked to her and told her of my concerns.  I just wanted a dream, a sign, something.

I came home and put the groceries away.  I went to the family room and turned on the TV.  As I was sitting on the couch flipping through the channels, I noticed an odd flickering out of the corner of my eye.  I ignored it, thinking I was crazy.  It kept happening.  I turned and looked and one of a string of recessed lights was slowly going on and off.  It stopped, I looked away.  It started happening again.  I turned and looked at it and said “Is that you Kel?”  It blinked on and off quickly and then did not happen again.  I am not sure what I believe or if I am half way to crazy town.  Odd coincidence.  In the photo, Kellie is on the left and I am on the right.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure your Family

 

My Hand Quilt Along Progress

Yes, I have some progress.  I am equally surprised.  I have been making a bunch of these flowers.  I started to get bored making them, so I started to put them together.  I have a “Grandma’s Flower Garden” quilt from my grandmother.  Mine is quite a bit louder than hers.  My background is yellow, hers was white and very fragile these days.  They were very well used.  I remember them being on the beds at her house.  I loved how heavy they felt when I slept under them.

Please visit all the wonderful people participating in the Hand Quilt Along and see what wonderful things they are up to:

Kathy,  Margaret, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Susan,  Nanette,  Edith, Sharon, Karrin, and Gretchen

Happy New Year to you all.  I wish you all the best for the new year,
I am hopeful that 2019 will be a positive change for me.  I am looking forward to closing 2018.  It was a rough one.
What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger,
Happy Sewing
Happy Quilting
Treasure your Family

My One Monthly Goal – Top Finished!

I managed to complete my moon and stars top for my One Monthly Goal.  You may be wondering why I can it the Moon and Stars Quilt.  Well, my plan is to make the circles my moons and then quilt stars every where else.  I have glow in the dark thread.

I also plan on piecing the back with some “Universe Panels/fabric”.  I happily found out last night that some of it is glow in teh dark.  I like weird stuff.

Hoping it turns out the way I have in my head.  So far, so good.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure your family