WIP Wednesday ~ Exhausted

Whew ~ just got back from a month in Michigan to visit our family for a graduation, birthdays, a baseball game and tons of other stuff, but I wanted to sneak in a couple of pics of what I worked on while I was there.

First up ~ I finished the heart quilt top! I love the way it turned out ~ the colors in the fabrics go together so well and they're not even the same collection!  I used fabrics from Kate Spain's Daydreams, Lauren & Jessi Jung's Chantilly, Stonehenge and Moda Modern Roses.  Love love the way they go together.

Next ~ I finished putting together the quilt top for the  Hop Skip & Jump Block of the Month.  Yay!

See that block on the bottom left?  Yep ~ I put the one hourglass block in sideways and didn't notice it until I took the picture ~ but it's fixed now.  :)  It still needs a border or two, but I like it!

So now I have to go and unpack and go through a month's worth of mail and get back into the swing of being home.  Whew ~ I'm tired!

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday.

Something new

So I took another class on Saturday from Bev, my favorite teacher at Flash Sew & Quilt ~ this is the quilt top we were learning how to make:

Just what I needed ~ another project.  :)  But I learned something new ~ applique!  We did a simple blanket stitch on this one.  I like the way it turned out and it's inspired me to do more.

AND we learned how to use a new tool:  Sue Pelland's Hearts and More template which made the hearts so easy!  (You can see her video here)

AND I tried a new fusible product ~ Mistyfuse ~ which is a very lightweight fusible ~ great for applique.

I decided to go with a totally different color scheme and went with an aqua and green palette and I'm lovin' it!  Fabrics are from Kate Spain's Daydreams, Lauren & Jessi Jung's Chantilly, Stonehenge and Stephanie Ryan's Modern Roses.

Ready for the next border!

Linking up with Anything Goes Mondays and WIP Wednesday.

Totally random ...

Just a quick post today with a few pics ~ 

Had to start off with these gorgeous flowers my daughter got me for Mother's Day ~ talk about brightening up my space!

My first attempt at feather blocks ~ these are my May Blocks for Newbie Quilter Hive #8 on Threadbias.  :)  

Another first attempt ~ a friend of mine showed me how to knit this ruffly scarf thingie!   :)  Fun stuff!

Linking up at Needle and Thread Thursday.  :)

Brayden's quilt ~ finished!

I actually finished Brayden's quilt today!  Yesterday I finished the quilting ~ decided to leave it simple straight line stitching with my walking foot.  I had a little bit of trouble with a few puckers, but the fabric is black and it's not too noticeable.  (Besides, he's going to be 3 so is he really gonna care?)  

 
I learned something new in finishing up this quilt ~ I tried machine binding following a tutorial I recently saw at Lily's Quilts, stitching it to the back first and top-stitching the front.  I'm happy with the way it turned out ~ besides,  I figured this would make it more durable for a 3 year-old!

I was super excited this morning to find out that Target is now carrying some fabrics by Fabric Editions ~ quilting, canvas, burlap ~ how fun!  Check out Maureen Cracknell's blog to enter her giveaway and possibly win some of your own!

Linking up with Anything Goes Mondays and TGIFF.

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.

Trying to get back on track

Boy, it's been a busy few weeks!  We had family in from up north and then spent a week in Las Vegas and a few days recovering from that trip.  :)  So today I finally felt like I was motivated to get back and spend some time with my little Babylock Grace.

I joined the Newbie Quilters group over at Threadbias and linked up with Hive #8.  It's the first bee I've ever joined and I'm looking forward to seeing what a bee is all about.  Our first block is the Road to Oklahoma block and I finished that one today.  I'm happy with the way it turned out and I put it in the mail already!  Woo hoo!

I also finished putting together my second block for the Star Light Star Bright quilt-along.  I'm not really thrilled with this one ~ too many mismatched points.  BUT ~ I'm just letting it go.  On to the next one!

Feels good to get back into sewing again!  

Linking up with Marelize for Anything Goes Mondays.

2014 Finish-Along ~ Quarter 2 List

OK ~ Here's my list for the 2nd Quarter of the 2014 Finish-A-Long hosted by Katy at The Littlest Thistle.

A couple of things were moved from last quarter:

1 - Verona Hourglass quilt.  I finished piecing the top in February of 2013.  The backing is ready and I've made the binding ~ so why has it taken me so long to finish?  Originally, it was the fear of doing the actual quilting ~ I've wanted to do free-motion quilting on this one and it terrified me.  I have since taken a FMQ class and I've been practicing, so maybe I can do it this quarter!  :)

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.

Now for the new things on the list:

3 - Good Night Irene quilt ~ I actually have 7 blocks done (will update the photo when I get a chance).  I'm no longer doing this as part of a quilt-along, but I'd love to finish it this quarter.

4 - Star Light Star Bright Quilt.  Another quilt-along that I lagged way behind on, but I can't wait to see this done!

5 -  Hop Skip & Jump Block of the Month over at Sew Lux Fabric.  I've finished 9 blocks (should be 10, so I'm a wee bit behind!), but I see the end in sight and I'm putting it on this list.

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