Sylvia Bridal Sampler Fabrics

I love batiks! As I am sure that you can see from this picture. These are the fabrics that I am going to be using in my Sylvia's Bridal Sampler Quilt. I love the Elm Creek Books and fell in love with this quilt. What you can't see is the solid black that I will be using for the sashing, background of some of the blocks and for the border.

As I am typing this my friend just sent me an email from Hancock's and they are having a batik sale. I have to resist! Try to resist! I am sure that I will give in though.

Roll Roll Cotton Boll Parts 3 & 4!

I have gotten back on track with the Roll Roll Cotton Boll Mystery from Quiltville. Part 3 took me awhile to do. I had done a lot of strings a couple of months ago so I think that I was burnt out on string blocks. Love how these look and can't wait to see how this all comes together because I have no idea how these are all going to fit together.

Part 4 went really quickly. Especially compared to the string blocks above. I started part 5 today and when I read the instructions for it I about fell out of my chair! I need to make 600 red and neutral 2" half square triangle units

Bright Houses for David and Katy!

Here is the last Christmas present for this year! I finished it on Saturday and it is on it's way to my brother-in-law and his wife in Texas. I sent it priority mail so hopefully it will get there before Christmas. These blocks were from a swap in my online quilt group.

Quiltville mystery clues 1 & 2 progress!

I am really excited about doing the Quiltville Mystery Roll Roll Cotton Boll! This is my first Quiltville mystery. So far the first 2 parts have been fairly quick to complete. Have to wait till Friday for the next clue.

Teacher Totes!!

I made more schlep bags using the So Sew Easy Schlep Bag Pattern from Sentimental Stitches. I love making these bags! I think that my favorite part is picking the fabric and I found some awesome letter fabric for my son's teachers. I figure that they will be wonderful Christmas presents for them.I took the picture at my work. 

Christmas Gifts!

I made two Christmas gifts this weekend! I know it is still a little while until Christmas but I like to be done early, especially when I am making gifts. This schlep bag I made for one of my son's teachers. Still have one more to make and then I will let him decide who gets which one. The pattern for this bag is called So Easy Schlep Bag. This is the 4th one that I have made and I will definitely be making more. the instructions are wonderful and they are so easy to put together.

Here is the tote bag that I made today for my sister in law. Hopefully she doesn't find my blog because it will ruin the surprise. Even though she does know that I am making it for her. About a month ago she put in her "Christmas request". So here it is. The pattern is from Quilts Illustrated Penny Sturges called Pocket Parade.  My daughter was helping me take a picture of this one. Great pattern and instructions!

Thanks for reading!

Blocks for Kids

In my online quilting group Scrappy Quilters Anonymous we have been working on some blocks for kids. Here are 34 blocks of the blocks that I have made. They are all 6.5" unfinished. I have 17 other 9 patches that I am putting into a top right now. I love to make blocks and quilts for kids. These blocks will go to help kids through CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Kids). One of many great places that help kids in need.

This one is mine!!

I absolutely love Quiltville! If you have never visited her website you really need to check it out. Anyways my online quilting group did a swap using her instructions for the Cathedral Stars pattern. I just finished the last stitches in the binding last night and this one is mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! I used a variegated thread in a loopy pattern and it turned out wonderful! The picture of the back is kind of washed out but it is a solid black. 

2 UFO's bite the dust!

I am so proud of myself for blogging again! Hopefully I can keep it up!

 This little quilt has been a UFO for at least 2 years. If not a little longer. I had started quilting it the hard way by basting it and then pushing it through the throat of my machine and it was horrible. Had a huge buckle in it somehow. Anyways I picked out all of the quilting and last weekend I pieced a new backing for it, quilted it and added the binding!! Plus the best part is that this uses up 32 swap blocks for my block busting.

The block is called 25 patch star or sister's choice.

That is my 9 month old daughter Katelynn. 

Here is the back.

Here is my second quilt made up of Swap blocks. I have had this one done for a little while but just now getting a chance to add it here. I added a braided border to it which I absolutely loved doing and I am going to do another braided border on another quilt that I am working on. This quilt uses up 30 Swap Blocks! But I still have a HUGE pile! I think they keep multiplying!

I think that this is it for my most recent finishes. If not I will be back again shortly!

Oh! Schlep Bags!!

Can't believe that I forgot to post pictures of the schlep bags that I have made in the last month. I try to get all caught up on my blog and leave things out!

I made the first one out of batiks for when I went to the Kankakee County Quilt Show. (I LOVE BATIKS!) That way I had something to put all my goodies in. The second one I made for a friend. I also made a purple one for my sister for Christmas but I haven't taken a picture of it yet. I used this pattern here for the schlep bags and it is a wonderful tutorial and a very easy and fun bag to make! I am sure that I will be making more!

 

Update!

Wow it has been too long!!  Here are my recent finishes.

This one was for my friend's son! Loved making this little quilt for him!

This was for my friend's newborn son!

This one was one of my Swap Block Busting! Scrappy Tennessee. My husband has claimed this one and it doesn't leave the sofa.

Here is another Swap Block Busting Quilt! Jacob's ladder.

There are some more finishes since my last post but I need to find where I put the pictures.
Thanks for reading!

My recent finishes.

I really need to post here more often so that I don't all of a sudden have tons of post in one day. Anyways here are my most recent finishes.

 This is my tetris block table runner.

This is my tan and turqoise quilt. This has a lot of quilting on it. I'll have to take a better picture of it at some point so you can see it.

Here is the scrappy depression table runner.

Here is my 30's sampler.

Here are 2 little christmas table quilts.

Well I think that is all that I have pictures of right now.

Flat Fabric Dolls

I had found a pattern to these through a friend. I absolutely love these! Thanks so much to the Moda Bake Shop! This set is for my niece for her 3rd birthday. Since this picture I have made a second set of clothes for these dolls and I will make a couple of more shoes and then they will be ready to mail to her. I plan on making at least 2 more sets.One for my niece who will be 2 in October and the other for my daughter. She is still a baby so it will be a little while before she will be able to play with them but I know that she will love them, I do!

My first block of the month.

In my online quilting group, Scrappy Quilter's Anonymous, we are working on a block of the month. My first one that I have ever done and so far I am really enjoying. Plus I am so far ahead. Not quite how a block of the month is suppose to go but when you don't have anything else in the works it gets done fast. Anyway we are doing one by Wendy Vosters. It is a paper piece one and I love paper piecing. I don't do it near as much as I would like. It is amazing what you can make with paper piecing. Here is what I have finished so far.

Completed Tops for February!!

Here are my completed tops for February. These were all made using up swap blocks, except for the Blue and Yellow Small Table Quilt.

This is my Super Scrappy Blue and Yellow Quilt. I wanted to do something different then just a plain fabric border so I pieced together this one. Which is why I made the matching table quilt because I made tons of extras and I need have more left to make something with. These blocks were all received from swaps last year, so they count towards my swap busting total. I went really scrappy with the double sashing and put yellow around the blue blocks and blue around the yellow blocks.

Here is the matching table quilt or I guess you could put it on the back of the sofa. No swap blocks used in this one though.I really love the look of the pieced border. It was a little more work but gives so much more character to the quilt.

This is my 30's sampler quilt top from a block swap that I was in last year. I love sashing and cornerstones, as you can tell. Espeically when you are using all different blocks. I alreaedy have it planned out how I am going to quilt this one but that will be for next month's goals. Piece a bunch of tops one month and then quilt as many as I can the next. 12 blocks towards my 2010 block busting.

Then here is my bright Tetris Block Table runner. This one has a lot of blocks in it since they are 3 inch blocks so this is going to make the swap block busting total soar. The best part about this quilt is that I had the bright border fabric in my stash and was worried that I would never have a use for it. Ta Da!! Here it is!! Here are 56 to add to my swap block busting total! I love this little quilt!!

On my frame I have the quilt below on it. It is the largest quilt so far that I have quilted on my new frame but so far all is going to well. I was really hoping to have it done this month but it looks like I will be working on it into March some. You can't see it in this picture but there is a border of the turqouise blue and the a border of the brown print.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. Have a great day!

Busy busy busy!!

I have been busy assembling quilt tops. I have a super scrappy blue and yellow quilt pieced into a top along with a matching table runner, I had left overs from the quilt top. I also pieced together a little table runner using some 3 1/2" tetris blocks and I am currently working on a 30's sampler quilt. I have 2 rows all pieced together with just 3 more to go and then the border.Then sad to say it, but I am going to be making some more swap blocks. I am trying to use up my swap blocks and here I am making more! Oh well, keeps me busy! If time allows it I will be taking pictures of my finished tops this weekend to share. Next month I plan on quilting all month and having some finished quilts. The runners will go really quick.

Swap Block Busting Time 2010

I figured that I should keep track of how many swap blocks I use up this year. I am not brave enough to count how many blocks I currently have but I will count them as I use them. I have so many of them and it is such as waste to not be using them. I started working on a top early this morning. My 6 week old daughter ate at 3am and I couldn't go back to sleep, I tried, so what better thing to do then sit down at the sewing machine. I have some blue and yellow blocks that I am adding sashing to and then I am I going to add a 2 1/2 inch white border. For the second border I was thinking of using 2 1/2 squares of blue and yellow and alternate them around. Then find a blue and yellow print fabric for the outer border and backing. Going to be lots of little pieces but I think that it will be well worth it in the end. I will take pictures as I go along. My goal for the weekend is to have the first border on and working on the pieced border.

Getting closer........................

Tonight I finished removing the last little bit of hand quilting on the turquoise and tan quilt. Getting really excited about putting it on the frame and starting the quilting. I have been talking with a friend of mine and she has been helping me with different quilting designs for it and I think that we have it all figured out now. I have a practice quilt sandwich loaded on my frame now and will practice the quilting designs before attacking my quilt. If I am not sure of the quilting designs I want to know now rather than later.

As for the family, Andrew is slowing working on potty training. It has been a long and drawn out process and is still going. Can't wait for the end of it. As for little Katelynn she is still eating wonderfully and growing so fast. She will be 6 weeks old tomorrow! Where has the time gone? Since I had Andrew it has seemed that time goes much faster than when we were kid free. Wouldn't change it for anything though. I couldn't imagine not having kids. Life would be boring then.

Take care and I hope to have some pictures of the quilting in a few days.

Scrappy Mountains for the Cabin......

These quilts I made for a set of bunkbeds up at my parents cabin in Wisconsin. I loved piecing this block together, they were super easy and made into a top very quickly. And as you can see there are many different layout options. I used all 3 of machines to make these. I pieced them together with my basic Singer, used my new Juki to quilt them and then you my Singer Futura embroidery machine for the label. Which I am going to do more often because it makes for a wonderful and professional looking label. Great for the quilts that I am going to sell.

Batiks and Black quilt!

I love this quilt! I had wanted for at least a year to make a quilt using batiks and solid black so I decided to do a swap in my online quilting group and this is what I got. Turned out wonderfully. This was the first quilt that I quilted on my new machine and frame. So much faster to do then trying to stuff it all under my 6" arm singer.

My hubby loves me!!

Here is my 2009 Christmas gift from my hubby! It was a huge surprise! I had no idea that he had bought it for me and I love it! I have already quilted 3 quilts on it and I am working on getting the turqousie and tan quilt ready to be loaded. It is going to be the largest quilt so far.

The details -- Grace Sturdy Lite Frame with Juki 98.

The quilt that is on it is the first one that I did using my new toy. It was batiks and kona black. I will share a picture of that in another post. The quilt on the wall was made with Moda Marbles and I hand quilted it.

2010 UFO's

This year I am going to be busy working on some UFO's that have been laying around my sewing room for longer that I am willing to admit to. My husband bought me a Grace Sturdy Lite quilting frame with a Juki 98 sewing machine so I have no excuse to not have quilts complete. Out of my 3 machines that I have I should be producing something.

Here is my list of must complete UFO's for 2010.

• Turqouise and Tan Quilt - First I have to remove the little bit of hand quilting that I did then I need to press it and load it onto my frame for quilting. This will be the first one that I complete.
• Cathedral Stars Quilt - This was from a swap last year. I need to piece the blocks into a top and then quilting and binding.
• 25 Patch Star - This quilt I did a poor job of quilting it so I need to rip out all of the quilting before I can start on it. Not going to be fun but needs to be done.
• Scrappy Houses - I have no idea what I am going to do with this one. Starting quilting it on my regular machine and not happy with it at all.
• Moda Challenge Quilt - Need to purchase the backing and batting for it then I can work on quilting it and the binding.
• Then I have a huge collection of blocks from swap that I would love to burn through. If they don't get into completed quilts, tops are fine by me.

There are 5 definite UFO's that have to be completed. I hope to get many more done this year. I am going to try to post once a week with my updated progress.