Round 8 Quilt Along

Are you going to play in round 8 of Old Red Barn Co's quilt along? I am! I've done 7 of the 8 rounds. I have really come to enjoy these people, the opportunity to learn new skills, and share and keep motivated by these folks.

Pat Sloan will be hosting this round, which I think (from her hints) will be based on an applique design. I am very excited about this. My skills in this area are almost zip.

My sister in law B will be joining in, which makes me very excited. Between the flickr pool and having B quilt along, I think this will be a very exciting round. I can hardly wait!

The supply list is out, and here is my pick. Still warm from the mailbox. I love it! Cutting instructions come out on Friday which will be perfect, since I will be returning from Phoenix on Thursday evening, and the hubs will have Friday off to keep the monster entertained so I can get cracking!

Tomorrow I am driving to PHX to see Ray Lamontagne with KT! *squeals*

Sew & Tell- Changing Leaves

HEY! Its Friday! Whoot whoot!! I have shared a quilt on Sew & Tell 4 weeks in a row! That means I have finished a quilt every week! This is a big deal for me. I felt like I hadn't found my groove yet this year! Now, I am filled with giddiness every Thursday when I make that final push to finish a project, just so I can share on amylouwho's Sew & Tell. From her story on Sew & Tell that was the whole point, to give you that little extra motivation to finish up something to share. Well, its working wonders for my quilt mojo, and I am really happy about it. Go over and check everything out! Okay enough blabber, on to my finished loot....

This is my finished September wall hanging! Finished this baby up last night watching Iron Chef. Its all scraps on the front. I saw my cousin's tree quilt and wanted one bad! I tried to talk her into giving me her's, but that didn't work so I had to make one. I am happy with it. And I love leaving raw edges on my applique. I quilted around the tree, then free motion quilted it inside the tree. Its what I pictured in my head, and its a dream to pet.

The backing is pieced a bit, but is mostly made up of this remnant I bought at Joann last Saturday. Oh how I love this fabric.

This is a bonus for me this week! I finished this one on Saturday in the car. Yes! That means I finished 2 quilts this week! Its my Round 3 Wonky Log Cabin from Old Red Barn Co's quilt along, which was taught by quiltdad.

Ahhhh, I loved this week!

12 Months of Wall Hangings-Halfway

Last winter, bored and unable to muster the motivation to finish large projects, I decided to make a year of wall hangings for my living room. So far I have stayed on track. Occasionally finishing the month's quilt just days before that month starts, but still. I'm not behind. I started in March and realized today as I finished quilting September's quilt(I have 5 days to finish it, no sweat) that I have started on the second half of the year! Six months of quilts done, almost seven. So I wanted to celebrate :) Here is a little parade of my seasonal quilts to keep me motivated to keep on.

March- Luck of the Irish Chain

April- Egg-celent Easter

May- Flowers

June- Summer Stars

July-Red, White & Blue

August-Lemons and Limes

Wordless Wednesday

Husband Approved Binge

We went to Amarillo today! It has been many many months since I have been there. We stopped at Joann, I bought a new cutting mat, and fabrics for 2 new quilts. Of course, I finish 4 quilts and must add 2 new projects right? That way I never get completely caught up. Ugg.

This will be a Christmas gift. We draw Christmas names in my family. I got my step-sister J this year.

This one will be for her daughter J. The monster got her name this year.

This is for my new niece, due this December. It will be gifted next month while I am visiting to my expecting sister-in-law.

This is for another new niece, due this December. It will also be gifted next month. To my expecting step-sister J. J's family will get 3 new quilts this year! Hehe :) And they all have names starting with J. So J, tot J, and baby J will all get quilts. I feel bad for her hubby J, he won't get one. But I'm sure mama J will share with papa J. Hehehe! I'm such a smart ass. I know. Sorry.

Its finished and I am happy with it. Round 3 of the ORBC quilt along DONE!! Its about 40x40. I free motioned in loopy loops.

I named it New J on the Block

I love the backing. Its from Hobby Lobby, and I am also going to use it as backing for tot J's Christmas gift.

Sew and Tell- Holly Jolly Christmas Quilt

I finished this one up late yesterday. Just in time to share today for amylouwho's Sew & Tell. It really is a little push to get things finished up to share on Fridays. Three weeks in a row I have shared quilts. I'm on a roll! Anyhow, this quilt was started last November I believe. Round 4 of Old Red Barn Co's awesome quilt along. I had this top finished in January, but set it aside because I lost my steam.

In the past couple of weeks I have got the itch to get some Christmas gifts done. This one is a gift for my mother in law. I think she will like the fabrics. They are a mix of Nancy Halvorson's "I Believe in Santa" and "12 Days of Christmas." All go really well together. It took me a really long time to decide how I should quilt this(probably why I lost my steam in January). Usually something this large I would want to straight stitch, but this quilt made me bite the bullet and free motion quilt it. It is the largest quilt I have free motion quilted, but I kept and even stitch pretty well, and only had a few puckers on the backing.

I added a tag to this one, which is something I have been slacking on. And I named it "Holly Jolly Christmas." It was the only song lyric I could think of while closing the binding. I think it suits this quilt pretty well. I'm happy!!

Take that old projects!

I started this last September. It just sat around, even though I really enjoy making the wonky block. With 2 new nieces due in December, I figured it was fate that I should add some sashing and finish it up.

This is round three of the Old Red Barn Co quilt along. Today I also attached the binding to my ORBC round 4 quilt which I believe we started in November. So, I'm pretty happy to have these quilts getting to the finish line this week. Yay!

P.S. Quilt Dad's Wonky Log Cabin tutorial is bad ass so I'm sharing the link. You can thank me later.

P.S.S. These pics are of the monster's first quilt modeling lesson. Can my men hold up a quilt or what?!

a block, bread, and playing choo-choo

This is what I did today:

Made the first block for the Full Swing quilt

Baked a loaf of banana bread

And, I played choo-choo with this monster. I love this boy!

I also did 5 loads of laundry & swept and mopped the floors :) I love it when I'm on top of crap around here!

13 bobbin

Quilted! It took me a seriously achy back and 13 bobbins to free motion quilt this sucker.

I am happy I did, but it is way larger than quilts I had free motioned in the past. WAY larger!

The bobbin case was a mess! This is how it looked after the first 6 bobbins. I cleaned it again after the next 7. Gave the Juki a good lube job and told her to take the rest of the night off. I'll attach the binding tomorrow. She deserves a break. I do too, oh my achin' back!

Melissa's Quilt Finished

I finished this baby up a few days ago but wanted to share today for SEW & TELL. Go follow the link to see great projects!

This quilt is for my friend from New Jersey. She and I worked together in Misawa, Japan. Her hubby was deployed, mine was on 14 hour night shifts. So after work we would eat dinner together, pick out Christmas trees, Instant Message, and basically just keep each other sane. I honestly think if I hadn't had her I would have left my husband who I saw literally one day a week. I am grateful for her.

Its a great throw size, and I love the Micheal Miller Meadowsweet backing.

I free motion quilted it, and I think it turned out perfect.

Stained glass...

Occasionally when I snap photos the light is pouring in just right, and my quilt back will look like these. I usually don't share the photos, but today I thought I would.

I think its really neat.

The top photo is a quilt finished today, I'll post it on Friday :)

An Apron

I made this apron today. It only took me an hour or so, and that included chatting on the phone twice and a diaper change. Its reversible. "The outdoorsy type" on the front. Happy Camper on the back

Understandingly, the hubs wasn't willing to model it for the photos. So a rigged it the best I could. It is actually very cute and the fabrics go well together. I rigged a towel loop on the side. I saw an apron with one, and thought it was a great idea.

This man reminds me of the Brawny man. Don't you think?

22 days..

Until

I'm listening to his new album here. LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

New Pupil

Here is my third pupil starting his first quilt. Golf themed fabric, and simple pattern. He is doing exceptionally well. The Air Force taught him how to iron and press in BMT, and he has been listening to me chatter for years. He is very capable. The cutting is done.

Dirty Fabric...

And by that, I mean it almost needs to be sold in a black wrapper.

I went looking for fabric for an apron I am going to send to my friend in PA. This is what I found and I think she will seriously laugh her ass off. I laughed my rear off in the store, and on the phone telling my sister about it, and when I took a photo of it, and now as I'm typing.You should see the other mens on this print.... the fabric is called "the outdoorsy type" seriously in quotes.

King Me!

Finished. FINISHED! FINISHED!!

Did you hear me? I said its finally finished! I really went back and forth with this quilt. I still don't know if I love it, but I don't think I hate it. Hopefully I will grow more confident in the choice I made for our quilt. It took me a long time to pick a design and I think I just put too much "its gotta be perfect" into my head, and now I can't relax about it.

The quilting is wonderful! Elizabeth does an awesome job and she is so fast!

I do love the backing a lot. If I keep doubting this quilt I might just turn it upside down.

Whew, I'm glad this quilt is done!

Oh, and I'm going to share over at Amylouwho's Sew and Tell Friday. Go oogle at how productive everyone is.