Good Stuff Tuesday

I love giveaways ~ especially when I win one!  I was one of ten lucky people to win SewCanShe's giveaway of Inspired LED's Sewing Machine LED Lighting Kit ~ I've been drooling over this since I saw it months ago.  A HUGE thank you to Caroline at SewCanShe and Inspired LED!

So I guess this just means that I'll have to do more night-time sewing ~ awww, what a shame.  ;)

I finally broke down and washed three of my latest quilts yesterday ~ and I know what everyone means when they talk about "crinkly goodness"!

I especially love the difference in Good Night Irene between the freshly-made ~

and the freshly-washed quilt.

Speaking of Good Night Irene ~ I experimented with a quilt label that I did on my printer and stitched on with cotton embroidery thread.  I still have four quilts that I haven't labeled.  What do you think?

Linking up with Sew Cute Tuesday.

2014 Finish-A-Long ~ Third 3rd Quarter Finish

Can it be?  Another finish?  Why yes ~ yes it is ~ one more finish for my Q3 list.  This is my Good Night Irene quilt that I started back in February for Terry's quilt-along.  I missed all the deadlines for prizes, but I think this quilt is a prize in itself!  I love love it.  :)

(I really need to find a more creative way to take photos of my finishes ~ this closet door just isn't getting it!)

Here's a closer look at the quilting ~

and a roll-up shot :)

I love the straight line quilting I went with ~ the grid pattern it makes on the sashing looks really interesting while not overpowering the blocks.  

Quilt:   Good Night Irene 

Size:      Approx. 50" x 50"

Fabrics:  Delighted by Quilted Fish for Riley Blake

Batting:  Warm and White

Thread:  Aurifil 50 wt

Pieced and quilted by me!

Linking up with Finish It Up Friday and TGIFF!

Weekend progress with Irene

I love it when I have a productive weekend!  In between shopping for tile and a vanity for our bathroom remodel (my hubby's summer project), I managed to make some more progress on my Good Night Irene quilt.  On Friday, I finished piecing the top:

Then on Saturday (after losing a bit a lot of sleep trying to figure out what to do with the back and what kind of quilting to do), I managed to get the back pieced and I love the way it turned out!

Next up, I put together some Franken-batting and made the binding (how cute is this 

Delighted Blue Floral by The Quilted Fish for Riley Blake?)

On Sunday, I managed to get it basted ~

and started the quilting.  So far, so good!

Linking up with Anything Goes Monday and Sew Cute Tuesday.

WIP Wednesday ~ Almost a flimsy!

Making good progress on my Good Night Irene quilt!  I finished all my blocks and I'm bound and determined to sew them together today.

I've decided I'm going to add a 2-inch print border to this and then a white border before I put the binding on ~ that should make it a nice size for a lap quilt.   This will hopefully be finish #3 for my 3rd Quarter for the 2014 Finish-A-Long.

Next up will be a class I'm taking at the end of this month.  I was thrilled to win 

Lee Heinrich's Blogger's Choice Fat Quarter Bundle recently, so I thought it would be perfect for this class quilt!  I've got all my pieces cut and ready to go :)  Love the colors in this collection!

It's amazing how excited I get to start a new project and I found that I'm starting to acquire more charm packs and jelly rolls than I thought I would ~ but I'm always afraid if I don't pick up what I like now, I'll be out of luck once it's out of stock, right?

I came across a blog post by Paula @ The Sassy Quilter with this quote from the Journal of Public Health which seems to explain this addiction I have:

“Cognitive, emotional and social processes were uncovered, which participants identified as important for their wellbeing. Participants found quilting to be a productive use of time and an accessible means of engaging in free creativity. Colour was psychologically uplifting. Quilting was challenging, demanded concentration and participants maintained and learned new skills. Participants experienced ‘flow’ while quilting. A strong social network fostered the formation of strong friendships. Affirmation from others boosted self-esteem and increased motivation for skill development. Quilts were often given altruistically and gave quilting added purpose.”

I'm so happy to learn it's an addiction that's good for my health!

Linking up with WIP Wednesday.

2014 Finish-Along ~ Quarter 3 List

OK ~ Here's my list for the 3rd Quarter of the 2014 Finish-A-Long hosted by Katy at The Littlest Thistle.

A few things were moved from last quarter:

1 - I'd really like to finish up the Tula Pink "City Sampler" Sew Along hosted by Sara at Sew Sweetness.  I think I'm up to block 70, so I still have 30 blocks to go.

2 - Good Night Irene quilt ~ I have 13 blocks done.  I'm no longer doing this as part of a quilt-along, but I'd love to finish it this quarter.

3 - Star Light Star Bright Quilt.  Another quilt-along that I lagged way behind on ~ I have 2 blocks done and hope to make a lot of progress this quarter.

4 -  Hop Skip & Jump Block of the Month over at Sew Lux Fabric.  I'm actually in the process of quilting this one ~ although it just dawned on me that I laid out the top row of blocks wrong when I put it together.  Too late to change it now, but it bugs me!

New on the list:

5 - My Heart Quilt.  I have the top done, so it shouldn't be a problem to finish it this quarter!

6 - Four SquareTable Runner.  I found this easy table runner kit on Craftsy, so it should be a breeze to finish before the end of September!

I think that's it for now!  Linking up with Katy at The Littlest Thistle.

2014 Finish-Along ~ 2nd Quarter Results

Here are my results for the 2nd Quarter of the 2014 Finish-Along.  (See my original post here.)

1 - Verona Hourglass quilt.    FINISHED!  Blogged here.

2 - I'd really like to finish up the Tula Pink "City Sampler" Sew Along hosted by Sara at Sew Sweetness.  I think I'm up to block 70, so I still have 30 blocks to go.  NO PROGRESS.

3 - Good Night Irene quilt.  Little progress ~ 11 blocks done.

4 - Star Light Star Bright Quilt.  Another quilt-along that I lagged way behind on, but I can't wait to see this done!  VERY little progress ~ only 2 blocks finished.

  

5 -  Hop Skip & Jump Block of the Month over at Sew Lux Fabric.  Quilt top is done and I have the backing ready.

Not so happy this time ~ only 1 finish out of 5.  The other 4 are going back on the list for Quarter 3.

WIP Wednesday ~ May already?!

Has it really been 3 weeks since I posted anything?  It's not like I haven't been doing anything ...

I guess the most important thing I'm working on is a quilt for our great-grandson who's going to be 3 next month.  I had made him this pillowcase for Christmas (he LOVES the Cars movies) ~

and I decided he needed a little quilt to go with it!  So I scrounged around for some more Cars fabrics and came up with a few more in different colors.  I cut them all up in 5" squares and started adding sashing.

I was inspired by this pattern by Lindsay @ Craft Buds.  My layout ended up looking something like this:

and I wanted to put his name on it somewhere, so I added it to the back ~

I added some Franken-batting (thanks to a tutorial by Kati @ from the blue chair) ~

and now I'm in the process of quilting it.  Can't wait to see it finished!

I have to admit ~ I'm not doing so well on my 2014 2nd quarter Finish-a-long list.  :(  Although I have made a tiny bit of progress on the Good Night Irene and the Star Light Star Bright blocks.  And my Hop Skip & Jump BOM quilt is almost ready for sashing.

In spite of the lack of progress on my list, I did sign up for another class at our LQS (just what I need, right?) and picked out these fabrics to make it sort of monochromatic.

So ~ I have LOTS of WIPs ~ all I need is a kick in the hiney to actually finish some things.

Linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday.

At a standstill

With family in from the cold north this week, and hubby and I heading out of town as soon as they leave, that's where my sewing projects are ~ at a standstill.

In the basket are the pieces for my Star Light Star Bright quilt  (Block 2 is on the design board) and the 2-1/2" squares that I'm using for my Goodnight Irene quilt (they make a great "leaders and enders" project!).

As much as I love having company and traveling, I'll be happy when I can get back to sewing with my little Grace.  :)

  

WIP Wednesday

Quilting has begun on my In From The Cold quilt!  I finished the back and basting this morning and I decided to start with outlining the mugs ~ not IN the ditch, but close to the ditch.

 From there, I thinking of cross-hatching the background because I love that look on other quilts I've seen.  Or maybe I should go with something like the serpentine stitch on this gorgeous quilt by amandajean over at Crazy Mom Quilts?

Here's the back:

I did get 2 more 16-patch blocks done on my Good Night Irene quilt ~ I love the bright colors!

Linking up with Freshly Pieced and My Quilt Infatuation

Projects in the works this week

This is one of those weeks where I'm in the middle of a couple of things, but I don't really expect any finishes anytime soon.

I finally got started on my blocks for the Good Night Irene sew-along (way past due, but that's OK ~ I'm going at my own pace!).  I decided to use "Delighted" ~ a collection by The Quilted Fish at Riley Blake that I've had FOREVER.

So far I've cut out 344 2-1/2" blocks ~ whew!  I'm sewing them together as kind of a "leaders and enders" project.  When I finish a seam on another project, I grab 2 squares out of my Delighted pile and sew those together.  Once I get eight pairs sewn, I put together a 16-patch block.  So far I have 2!

I'm still trying to figure out how to quilt my In From The Cold quilt ~ but in the meantime, I'm working on adding a strip of fabrics to the backing.

So that's where I'm at today ~ hoping to get a little further on these projects this week, but the Naples Quilt Show is this weekend, so that's going to keep me a little busy.  :)  My first quilt show ever!  I entered my Pinwheel and Postage Stamps quilt (my first), so I'm excited!! 

Linking up with Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts.