Circle Quilts

My original idea for my circle quilt struck me as too much for me to handle currently, with the big move and everything.  So I decided to make two smaller quilts with the materials that I had laying around.

Today, After breakfast with Steph from Hope Sewing is Genetic, I laundered and pressed all the pieces that still needed that.

Then, I cut the backing, fronts, and batting to fit the dimensions I decided on.

Then, I laid out the circles and pinned them to one of the quilts.

FriDate

On Fridays Steph from Hope Sewing is Genetic and I go out to dinner and spend some girl time together without our husbands.  

Tonight we had a wonderful meal at a semi-fancy restaurant.  

After we went to the craft store.  

Now I've been on a hiatus.  Not a purpose driven one.  Just a break from sewing for the past few months.  I haven't even set foot in the craft store since December.  

Today though I had a purpose.  I have a vision of a quilt that I want to make for my Mother-in-law.

Here is my spoils from our trip.

Waiting for Rain

I know that it is still summer and most people are holding on to the last visages of the heat, but I'm waiting for the rain.

Rain, for me, always makes life seem so much easier to handle. I sleep better. I have more motivation. I can get out my winter coats. The cats grow back their fluffy fur. I can start stacking blankets on my bed.

But for now...

I'm just waiting for the rain.

Meanwhile...

Works in progress.

Queen Quilt

I've decided to quilt it with buttons.

Knitting

I'm almost done with my scarf.

And I'd like to start knitting this blanket.

With this yarn.

We'll see how that goes. I'm not daunted, yet, by learning how to knit.

Patchwork Placemats: Part Four

I picked up a new book yesterday, Stitch by Stitch: Learning to Sew One Project at a Time. I started reading it during lunch with my hubby. Alex said "You already know how to sew". I do know some things about sewing, I've been doing it for quite some time now, but there is so much I don't know. I thought going back to the beginning would be good for me.

The first thing I learned:

That I'd been installing my bobbin wrong. I guess I had never bothered to read the instructions.

Second thing I learned:

The strawberry on the tomato pin cushion is for sharpening pins. I never knew that it had a purpose.

People say that you learn something new everyday. Well these are the things that I learned.

Today I worked on my Sew liberated placemats.

They are almost finished. Well three are finished and the forth one is almost done. I just need to get one more package of the wide bias tape I'm using for the edging.

Patchwork Placemats: Part Three

I hope that everyone had a good weekend. My was very full. First, my dear friend Steph from Hope Sewing is Genetic and I had a yard sale. Steph also gave me this nice cozy for my new mixer.

This weekend I made three different recipes with cherries. Then Sunday I made some progress on the ever continuing project of the Sew Liberated Patchwork Pacemats.

I cut the Jelly roll into 14-inch strips

Ten strips for each placemat.



Sewn together I placed them on top of the backing and batting.

Next, I'll quilt each mat. Then I'll trim the sides and sew on the binding. With a little bit of luck I'll have these finished up next weekend.

Happy Sewing
D

Patch Work Pacemats : Part Two

Don't we all love giveaways. I know I do. And so does Steph at Hope Sewing is Generic. She found this give away at 1 Choice 4 Quilting and blogged about it and I couldn't help but pass the word along.

This is the day I'm going to finish these placemats. I have all the Jelly Rolls sewn together.

Now I just need to press the seams.Then I'll cut them in 14-in segments (9 for each placemat).Sew together the 9 strips.

However, all that will happen after I clean the house and do the laundry.
I also need to find a spot for my new mixer that will be coming home on Monday!

Happy Sewing
D

Today's To Do List

• Laundry


• Mop Floors (Bathroom & Kitchen)


• Scrub Bathroom Surfaces


• Vacuum (Living room, Bedroom, & Computer room)


• Clean out closets (Bathroom, Bedroom, & Computer room)


• Organize things to take to thrift store or possible yard sale


• Brush the Kitties

Patchwork Placemats: Part One

This is the sewing project from Sew Liberated that I have been working on for the past few weeks. Slowly working on.


I started by getting out all the fabric


and scraps that I have put in storage.


Even Zoey got into helping mommy.



So far I've cut out the backing pieces for four placemats.


Sunday, I was able to get much of the Jelly Rolls cut out.

Next I'll sew all the scraps together.

Have Fun Sewing
D

Queen Quilt: Update

I've finally put it all together. It is officially a blanket now! Thank you to Stephanie at Hope Sewing is Genetic for letting me use her dining room table and an extra set of arms to wrangle the quilt into order.

The only thing left to do is quilt it.

Cheers
D

Queen-quilt Update

Well all the pieces have been purchased.

1. Fabric for top squares

2. Batting

3. Fabric for the back

All the square cutting done.

All the squares sewn together.

Time to assemble!

Zoey the Fabric Weight

 

My dear cat Zoey likes to "help" mommy do what ever I am doing. See previous post for "help" with puzzles. This day she decided that she needed to keep the rows, I had sewn together from all the squares I cut previously, from blowing away.

As you can see I've been a busy little bee working on the construction of the top part of the Queen Quilt. The construction of the rows is almost complete despite Zoey's efforts to the contrary. I have three more rows to complete. Then I'll iron them flat and attach them together to form the completed top.

Queen Quilt

This quilt I've been "working" on since before December. Well I've finally finished cutting the squares for the top and I've arranged them how I'm going to sew them together.

The squares are cut using a 6 & 1/2 inch square to allow for 1/4 inch seems. A total of 270 squares were cut out. The boarder (62 squares) will be solid black with a pattern square in each corner. The remainder of the quilt (208 squares) are assorted patterns interspersed with some solid black and white squares. Primary colors are Black, White, Dark Red, and Pink. With underlying colors of Grey and light Brown.

Cutting the Squares

Putting the Squares into row bundles.

Laying it all out to check how it looks (this has the squares overlapping so as to fit the extra large quilt in my very small living room).



* I put the cats out side before I did this. They think helping is messing up mommy's work*

Things left to do:

1. Sew top squares together


2. Purchase Queen size batting


3. Purchase Black backing material


4. Sew together top, batting, and backing


5. Quilt it!

Quilting

Quilting adventure.

Today my friend, whom has taken up quilting as well, and I went out of town to a quilt shop is exotic Paradise. This place, Debbie's Quilt Shop, had a versatile selection of fabrics and the quilts on display were so intricate I'm not sure how a person could do them.

This was very inspiring.

I could not resist getting many different "Fat" squares for my current quit project.

Now I'm very excited to add these new patterns into my ever growing quilt.

I'm hoping very soon to be complete with the top and put the whole thing together.

Rut

I seem to be in a sewing rut. I've stopped acquiring scraps for my grand quilt. I never purchased the book on knitting. And now I do nothing but watch T.V. every night. What am I doing?

I need to get motivated again.

Maybe this weekend will prove to be more productive.

Zoey's Quilt Quest

Sometimes when I go to work on the quilt, Zoey thinks that it is her personal challenge in life to stop me.

Here she is quite effectively stopping my productivity.

I personally don't have the heart to move her. She is just too cute.

After today I only have 45 more squares to cut out. Then on to the Cotton Batting and a nice soft backing. I'm think I'm going to go with black for the back color.

Projects for the New Year

For Christmas my husband purchased me this lovely book on sewing by Meg McElwee, Sew Liberated : 20 Stylish Projects for the Modern Sewist

So for the new year I'm going to try out a few of these projects to expand my sewing repertoire.

The first is a beautiful Tie-Back Floor Pillow Cover.

The Second is a Capture the Moment Camera Bag.

The Third will be the Dapper Day Bag.

All of these will be of course after I finish the new quilt for my bed. A few days ago I ventured out to the fabric store and purchased a few more scraps of fabric. I think I'm getting close to having enough for the top.

I just need to get some cotton batting and find a fabric and color I like for the back. Then it will be open season on trying to turn it into a quilt.

Everyone wish me luck on that.

Additional Projects include fixing old blankets and a quilt that belonged to my husbands great-grandmother.

Then hopefully by mid year I'll be able to start on the Mother Confessor Costume for Halloween 2011.

All of these projects should be fun and keep my mind well occupied.

Happy New Year to everyone.

It's Been Awhile

I know it's been awhile. Lots has been happening in the home life. Hubby finally got a job, the week of Thanksgiving, after three months of unemployment. This came not a moment too soon, as we had to start repaying our student loans this month. Now I have hope for the new year and all that fun stuff. I'll also be able to work more on projects, like my Mother Confessor outfit, in the coming year.

For now, I'm going to appease myself with work on a new quilt for our bed. I've been slowly picking up bits and pieces of different fabrics. And today I decided that I could allow my self to cut them

So for the next few week this will be one of many project I have lined up for myself.

Until next time, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year.

~D.J.

Halloween Quilt

The Halloween Quilt is done except for the Quilting. That is all that is left.

Hubby was so excited he wanted to use it right now. However I don't want him to get it dirty until it's all done.

I'm feeling hopeful this week. I hope it holds out.

All the great things in this world are around this time of year.

Including:

Jamba: Pumpkin Smash.

Red and Yellow Leaves

Cold crisp air

Rainy afternoons

Pumpkin Pie

And Kitties with thick fur...

Pinkish Quilts

I've picked out these three fabrics to make a quilt. I don't have a pattern for it as of yet. However I think that they will look good together.

So after work today after I clean at least one room in my house and work some more on my puzzle. I will be scouring the internet for ideas. this quilt it going to be awesome.

I just need to keep thinking positively so that the black void doesn't swallow me whole.

Which me luck.

Quilts and Kittens

The cute Calico that I'm tempted to keep as my own. She lives a few houses down from me and if she doesn't find a home she is going to be going to the shelter. It makes me sad, but I cannot afford another kitty. I'll just have to be content with the two that I have. It's such a shame. :(

This quilt was one of my first attempts at making a patchwork quilt. I made it a few years ago and I'm feeling like I should try again to make a better one.

These are the scraps that I found in some of my storage bins. I think I have enough to make another small quilt without having to purchase more fabric. However I still might want more fabric just to make it more symmetrical and add more variety to the whole endeavor. Wal-Mart has quite a few Halloween fabrics that are reasonably priced. I just feel that I should not be spending money on anything other than food and bills. I need to get myself out of debt. Then there can be all the sewing projects to my hearts content.