Have I Ever Mentioned...

...that I hail from some incredibly talented women?

I may not have brought it up because I will never sew or quilt at a level that could be compared to my grandmother.  Seriously.   

I flew home last week to attend my grandmother's funeral.  It was a tough trip.  One made so much easier because my family is amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed my time catching up with cousins and aunts and uncles. 

During the service several of my cousins shared their love of my grandma's stellar cooking.  It was true, this woman could cook.  While I heard her German Potato Salad mentioned for literally the 12th time, I was privately reflecting on the amazing talent my grandma had as a seamstress and quilter.  Of course I should have mentioned it at the service, but I wouldn't have been able to get through speaking, as just typing seems to have me a bit choked up.  

Sadly, the only thing I still have is my pillow blanket.  And it hardly shows off her talent. But I can tell you this woman was amazing.  One year for Christmas she gifted out a massive number of these pillow blankets.  Another year, she made every one of us robes.  Quilted robes, and by all of us I mean 15-20 of us.  It seems like I was very young that year, and obviously I had nearly no knowledge of sewing or quilting at my age, but I remember thinking "How did she make all of these".  As a grown up I still wish I had asked her what month she started those twenty robes.  Based on my Christmas sewing, I'd imagine May or April right?  

One Christmas my grandma made me Barbie clothes.  They were beautiful, I remember my favorites being a satin nightgown with matching robe, a fur coat.  How she could stitch those little things will baffle me forever.  I should have taken sewing lessons from her.  A big regret I'll always have.   I'll never forget how we joked about her habit of buying bolts of batting.... and here I am a bolt buyer myself.   

I spent so much time with my grandma while I was growing up and I have so many wonderful memories....  watching her cook, playing cards,  enjoying blueberry pancakes for breakfast, watching her pulling out her good dishes,  and about a million other things I remember watching her do with awe. 

Even though I'll never have her skill, I'm so happy to have had her influence and love.  

Number 500

Did you know this is my 500th blog post?  Ya, probably you didn't.  

Doesn't that sound excessive?  Even spread out over four and a half years.  Did you know that 2013 was my quietest blog year since I started this puppy?......but, I have enjoyed tracking my progress more lately.  I hope I keep it up this year.  This quilt blog is an important part of my quilting progress.

Sadly, I really don't have anything meaningful or momentous to blog about. Just an update on my dang wips. 

My scrumptious quilt is being quilted. That seems pretty lame for an entire post, but it's all I've got.  

Now that I'm feeling really good about my progress I'm starting to reconsider #13.  Maybe I'll make a smaller version after all.  If I get the binding finished on #5 this coming week, purchase a binding for #6 today or tomorrow, finish quilting #8, and slap the binding on #9 by machine, then I may be out of things to do pretty soon.  I'll have to budget my backings for the mod pop and sampler, so I might pick up the patchwork from the postage stamp while I wait.... time will tell (and my allowance will decide).

1. Birthday gift for my sister- DONE
2. Baby gift for a friend due in late spring- DONE
3. Happy Go Lucky- DONE
4. Cuzco- DONE
5. Economy Block I-spy- binding attached, just needs hand sewing
6. Marmalade- Quilted
7. Blueberry Patch Sampler- top is done
8. Scrumptious- Being quilted
9. Baby gift for a friend due in late spring- Quilted
10. Mod Pop Quilt Along- top is done
11. Mystery BOM - up to date 
12. Plums- I'm leaving it
13. Postage Stamp- I'm leaving it

WINNER of the Quilt Giveaway

It's FRIDAY!  

That means it's laundry day!  

That means it's pizza night!  

That means it's time to pick a winner!

The monster helped me choose randomly, and the winner is......

Melissa C!

I'll get the quilt in the mail tomorrow lady!

My sewing room is on a break since we are having some company but I wanted to update my freaking wips list.

1. Birthday gift for my sister- DONE
2. Baby gift for a friend due in late spring- DONE
3. Happy Go Lucky- DONE
4. Cuzco- DONE
5. Economy Block I-spy- Being quilted
6. Marmalade- Quilted
7. Blueberry Patch Sampler- top is done
8. Scrumptious- basted
9. Baby gift for a friend due in late spring- Quilted
10. Mod Pop Quilt Along- top is done
11. Mystery BOM - up to date 
12. Plums- I'm leaving it
13. Postage Stamp- I'm leaving it

Hot Dog!

I finished quilting this baby.  I quilted the 4 inch grid in the ditch, then did three diagonal lines along the four patch pathways.  I'm very pleased.

I'm going to eenie- meanie the two basted quilts to decide which will be next.  The monster has been obsessed with this method of decision making lately.  Apparently it has rubbed off on me. 

I've been thinking lately, maybe after the wips are cleaned up, I might get after my scrap project.  I really think I've accumulated enough strips for the string quilt I want to make.  

How quilt responsible of me would that be?!  And economical!  

And my bin is getting full.  I can barely hide crap in there anymore.  

Don't forget I'm drawing a winner tomorrow!  

Working my WIPs

I feel productive.  

These UFOs are really taking a beating.  

I basted four quilt tops this past weekend. 

 Quilted one, then started on my marmalade. 

I also finished my Mod Pop top.

My list is much improved!

1. Birthday gift for my sister- just needs the binding hand sewn
2. Baby gift for a friend due in late spring-  DONE
3. Happy Go Lucky- DONE
4. Cuzco- DONE
5. Economy Block I-spy- Basted
6. Marmalade- Being quilted
7. Blueberry Patch Sampler- top is done, no backing yet(next month maybe)
8. Scrumptious- Basted
9. Baby gift for a friend due in late spring- Quilted. Needs binding attached
10. Mod Pop Quilt Along- Top is done
11. Mystery BOM - Up to Date 
12. Plums- I'm leaving it
13. Postage Stamp- I'm leaving it

What if I really end up clearing out this list?  

I mean besides number 12 & 13.... 

A Quilt Giveaway

Here is the other quilt I finished recently.  I just grabbed it from the dryer and snapped a few photos.  This quilt is pretty and bright and I looooove the fabrics. I pretty much love anything Kate Spain makes.  Anyhow, this quilt may be coming to live with YOU!  I'm going to give it away.  I really love it, but I literally have stuffed my quilt storage full, and I have two other quilts I must keep that are on my quilting to do list.  So you may benefit from my storage woes.

I have been on a straight line quilting kick lately, but I think it really suits this quilt. 

I found a print for the backing at HoLo that looks like it was made for this line.  Just sooooo pretty.   

SO!  To enter to win just leave a comment.  That's all. I will draw a winner next Friday! 

(make sure if you don't have a google account that you leave your name in the comment)

 Speaking of my quilting to do list... I have a big ol pile to baste again.  How does this happen to me?!  Friday night in the McMath household will be super exciting since I have four quilts to baste, and the hubs has grout to seal.  For real we used to go out to dinner, movies, bowling, and stuff... eons ago.

Check back soon, I've been working on my Mod Pop! 

A Happy Guest Room

 I finished my Happy Go Lucky quilt last night.  It was beyond rewarding, and I came in just under my self imposed deadline.  This quilt is for our guest room.  And we have company coming next week, then more company the following week!

I am very pleased with the way this quilt came out.  I used a Moda Bake Shop pattern.  It was Trish Poolson's pattern and I love seeing her on Moda Bake Shop.  I met her at the Sewing Summit and she is such a nice person. 

 I straight line stitched this one in the ditch and I like how simple it is.  

I was going to make this quilt another row longer but I was getting concerned with the size and quilting it myself.  I have enough leftover HSTs to make two pillow shams.  Although I have no clue when that will happen.(possibly never) 

The backing is from HoLo  and I like this polka-dot.  Lately unless I find an awesome stripe I pretty much go for a solid binding.  I'm just not feeling very creative lately as far as finding an awesome or interesting binding fabric.  Oh well, there are worse things to be lazy about... like showering or paying bills.  I machine closed the binding which I really dig sometimes.  On this quilt I used different colored top and bobbin threads so it would look nicer.  I feel like such a rule breaker, but if my tension is good there really isn't any issue.

By the way, I finished two quilts last night so now I'm down to 11 wips!  Here is my list.    

1. Birthday gift for my sister- just needs the binding hand sewn
2. Baby gift for a friend due in late spring- just needs the binding hand sewn
3. Happy Go Lucky- I need to buy the binding and attach it
4. Cuzco- I need to quilt (I need gray thread) and bind it, I haven't picked out the fabric for the binding
5. Economy Block I-spy- I have it ready to baste anytime I decide to mop
6. Marmalade- quilt top is done, backing is ordered and on it's way
7. Blueberry Patch Sampler- top is done, no backing yet(next month maybe)
8. Scrumptious- Top is done, backing is ordered and on it's way
9. Baby gift for a friend due in late spring- top is done, backing is ordered and on it's way
10. Mod Pop Quilt Along- I'm ahead, sewing blocks together
11. Mystery BOM - Waiting for the January block to arrive 
12. Plums- I'm leaving it
13. Postage Stamp- I'm leaving it