UFO's & WIP's....

ya' know...  it's always nice to see those piles dwindling down!  There's a great joy in knowing that you are FINALLY getting some things done and off your UFO/WIP list(s)! 

My daughter has been asking for a quilt since just before Christmas.  She knew what colors she wanted but everytime I tried to get her to select a pattern...  she would "like" several but never just had that one "jump out" at her.  Until, that is..........  she seen the Kalidescope quilt done by Allison over at Cluck Cluck Sew! 

I started cutting the pieces Friday evening - everybody in our house had plans Friday night so the dog and I stayed home together!  He snored while I cut fabric!  lol  I was up early Saturday morning (as usual!) so I started assembling the pieces into the squares needed for this project.  Then sewed the squared into rows.  Now that all the rows have been sewn together and the primary part of the top is finished, I need to add a border (maybe two) then it will be ready to layer, baste & quilt!

I have a few pics but don't want to share them just yet.  I noticed last week when I was finishing my nephews quilt that I do pics of the tops and share them before they are finished but  never share the finished product!  So I'm trying to get into that habit....  we'll see how long that lasts!  lol

Once my daughters quilt is finished, I need to get the two done for my nieces (yes, they are already started!) and then I need to finish Hannah's....  once those 3 are done I have one that's been patiently waiting for about 4 years to be completed....  I'm ready to get it out of the way!!!  It's a photo quilt for someone - but I can't tell you who it's for incase they read my blog!  lol 

So, with that said, I need to get back to work!  Have a great Sunday!

Some new blocks...

!This block is from the Craftsy BOM - it's block #1 (of 2) for February.  It was actually pretty simple to do which surprised me!  I just kept looking at all those triangles and really wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get them assembled.  HA!  Was I fooled!  If you want to know an easy-peasy way of making this block just jump over to the Crafty site *here* and watch the "Block Of the Month" for February. 

Pink for Megan * Yellow for Hope

Both of these blocks are made using the same pattern.  The original pattern called for the center to be done with the background fabric (the white one in this case) but I wanted to see what it would look like done with the all yellow.  I really like how it turned out!

 This one is the traditional style for this block.  I really like it too!

I made a few other blocks last night, too but they didn't make it on to the camera just yet.  They need a little more work!  lol 

Happy Crafting!

"Crossroads" for Colby

That's what I'm calling this quilt.  It's for my nephew, Colby.  He'll be 3 in August and this is supposed to be his birthday present.... although I may have to give it to him now!  lol  I'm never this early with a birthday gift but when I seen this Moda Honeybun - Zippety Doo Dah - I couldn't resist!  It has Colby's name written all over it!  It didn't take very long to come up with this pattern.  The strips in the honeybun are 1 1/2" wide.  I started by sorting them into color-groups and then just started putting a Red, Cream & Blue together for each set of 3.  Once they were sewn and pressed I cut  3 1/2" sections and just started playing around until I came up with this pattern. 

If you look closely at the cream strips between the blocks, you'll see that it's a "homespun" fabric which isn't exactly "quilt material" but it was truly the closest thing I could come up with when I was looking for a cream fabric.  Am I happy with it?  No.  Not at all.  I'll never make that mistake again.   I wanted to have a cream sashing around each block and then just have the red sashing around the outter part of that.  I ripped out so many seams just trying to line up the blocks - because "homespun" is so loosely woven that it pulls and distorts very easily - that I finally said enough was enough!  I didn't have the energy to rip out the smaller pieces between the blocks but I guess it didn't turn out too terribly bad the way it is.  All the red sashing is cut at 2".

The striped blue fabric - or "ticking" as it's also known - around the outter edge is from some yardage that was in one of several boxes of fabric that was given to me a few years ago.  I had no idea what I was going to do with all of it but when I started this quilt for Colby I knew exactly what I was going to use it for!  I cut the "ticking" at 6 1/2". 

Each block has it's own unique personality....  just like Colby!  lol 

This is just a closer view of some of the blocks but you can see a little of the ticking off to the left of the picture.  Although it's a different shade of blue than the rest of the quilt I think it's a good match. 

Tomorrow I'll layer and baste then start quilting....  I'm just not sure how I want to quilt it though.  Probably just meandering, like I usually do.  That seems to work best for me! lol

Happy Crafting!  Have a great night! 

I've been playing with new patterns!

New to ME, that is!  LOL  I happened to hit JoAnn's at the perfect time because not only was I armed with a fist full of coupons this weekend...  they had a TON of stuff on sale at really good markdowns!  I was excited because this is the chance I had been waiting for!  The chance to try new things!!!

 Have you ever seen something made by someone else and you're just in complete awe by the beauty?

Or seen something with about a GAZILLION tiny pieces in it and thought to yourself, "good grief?! I could never do that!" 

Well, that's sort of how I have been feeling about some of these gorgeous quilt patterns I keep drooling over!   A few nights ago I found an awesome tutorial on the 'Lil Twister pattern and WOW!!!  Talk about SUPER EASY!!!  *I'll share that link as soon as I can find it again!   Click HERE for awesome tutorial!

Of course, this 'Lil Twister is a 'lil elusive!  I've never seen this template anywhere so where did I go to get it?  EBAY of course!  All I did was type in "quilt supplies" and VOILA!!  There it was!  With a pretty little "Buy Me Now" button right beside it!  lol   The price was right so I hit that button!  Now this was Sunday evening...  I was supposed to be "watching" the football game but who can watch a stinking football game when your team isn't playing?!  I can't!!  lol  anyways....  like I said, that was Sunday evening and here it is....  Wednesday....  and my 'Lil Twister is in my mailbox!!!  Just waiting for me to use it!  And use it, I did!!! 

I've been playing with pinks and greens for about a week now so I figured I'd keep right on going with that theme! 

Here's my version of a 'Lil Twister.....

I've been making  placemats for my kitchen in the pinks & greens so I'm thinking this will be going in the center of my table!  : ) 

Last night I was playing with these little hexagon pieces...  you know, the ones we're supposed to measure our fabric around, cut it out, then run a basting stitch around it, then iron it, then attempt to dig that little plactic piece out!  Yea, well....  it didn't go exactly as planned!  I tried to follow the instructions!  Honestly, I did!  But when it got to the point where I was supposed to dig out that little plastic hexagon...  it just wasn't happening!  I couldn't get it out!  I used the little stick-thingy that comes with the shapes and well..........  that was a joke!  I'm sorry to say but that was one of my LEAST favorite pieces to create!  So I got the bright idea to use the shapes to cut out my pieces but instead of standing on my head to get them un-done I decided to use them for pressing purposes and that seems to work pretty well for me! 

Here are a few that I did last night. I'm in the process of making quilts for each of my 2 lovely nieces and their little brother.  Hope, the oldest, loves the color yellow so hers will be in shades of yellow.  Megan, the middle one, loves the color pink...  guess what color her's is going to be?!  lol  So what I've been doing is trying out all these new quilt patterns and making two of everything....  one in PINK and one in YELLOW....  these are definately going into the girls quilts!

These next two blocks are also going into the girls quilts!  It's the same pattern as the 'Lil Twister but on a larger version!  The actual size of the finished square is 13". 

Happy Quilting!!

For Hannah...

Hannah is my sons girlfriend and we think the world of her!  She lives across the hay field so if I ever wonder where my son is when he's not home or not working....  I know right where to find him!  lol 

I have been trying out new things using my scraps and this is what I've come up with so far.....

I started by stitching odds and ends together to make a decent sized piece of fabric.  I decided I wanted to try doing something with triangles so that's where the green came in.  So if you look at the other half of those squares, you'll see all the different scraps I used to make those squares.

  There is no pattern to this - just me, my imagination and lots of scraps to utilize!  lol

Hannah likes pinks and greens to that's where the color scheme comes from but other than that...  it's just quilt-as-I-go!  I'm planning on giving this to her for her graduation in May so I need to get back to work! 

Have a great weekend and Happy Crafting!

Such a Proud Momma!

I'm so proud of my daughter!  She makes an effort to "try" whatever I'm doing or making at the time....  whether it's scrapbooking...  painting... cooking... quilting... but her patience and attention sometimes runs short and she loses interest. LOL  She's 18...  a Senior in high school, an Honor Student, works a part-time job, has a boyfriend and is active in various sports....  so she's a pretty busy girl!  We went shopping out by Pittsburgh about three-weeks before Christmas and of course we hit up the giant JoAnn's in Greensburg!  I could have spent all day there!  LOL  I had a mission and a fist-full of coupons!  I was in search of the camo fabric for my son's Christmas quilt and my daughter was just looking around, waiting on me to get done. She was asking me questions about quilting and while I was trying to explain some things to her,  we came across some packets of "BOM's" that were on clearance sale.  She fell in love with the colors and asked if I would mind if she tried it.  Well, HELLO?!?!  I was thrilled!  This was one more thing we could share!  She was all pumped to do this!  I showed her how to hand-sew the pieces and to work at keeping the stitches small and in a straight line.  She did really well with it.  But.....  like most things that are tiny and time-consuming.....  she put it aside and forgot about it.

Well, this morning I finally decided I was sick of looking at it laying on my scrapbooking table and asked her what she was going to do with it or did she just want me to finish it and be done with it?  Nope.  SHE was going to finish it!!  I offered to show her how to use my new sewing machine.....  *cringe*.....  lol   I turned the speed down, wound a bobbin and showed her what to do.  She took off from there! She would stitch a seam and then go press (or "set" ) it.    The whole time I'm just smiling and loving every minute of this!  Yes, she had to tear out a few seams and wasn't happy about it but once she realized that you can't just slap it together and that you really had to take your time and line up the seams and keep your stitching consistant and even...  she kept that momentum going and actually finished it!!!  And it's BEAUTIFUL!!! 

When we picked up the BOM packet we also got an extra blue & green FQ  because the actual finished square was only 8 inches.  The red printed fabric in the corners was from my stash but the red was a perfect match to the red square in the center.  I should mention that the BOM packet had pieces for TWO 8 inch blocks so she made both and used them to make a pillow.

I think she did a fabulous job on this and I couldn't be more proud of her and her first quilting project! She just need to hand-stitch the bottom closed and it will completed! 

Great Job, Stacie!  You done a great job on this!

Love, Mom!

Ugh!! I told you I couldn't wait!!!

I knew that I couldn't wait a year to finish this quilt!  lol  There's no way!  I'm way too impatient!  Well, because of that "lovely trait" I now have to re-do my two January BOM's!  Plus, I have to start all over with fabric selection!  ugh?!   Oh well, I do it to myself!

Anyways, here it is!  Here's my Wonky Quilt - as a tribute to the Pittsburgh Steelers! 

All that's left is the layering, quilting & binding and then it's ready for me to use!!

It's Finished!! It's Finished!! *yay*

**see 2 posts below this for full story! 

It was 12:30am this morning...   but I actually got it finished in time for Christmas!!!  I'm so excited!  Now granted, it's not perfect....  but it's completed and ready to give!  : )

Here's my son's quilt he asked for....  three weeks ago for Christmas!  lol 

The top and bottom have the same camoflauge sashing - he's pretty tall so it had to be long enough to cover him from head to toe (as per his request! lol) - I used the 2 1/2" strips I already had cut for this because I knew I was running out of time to make anymore of the hexagons.  He loves it so I'm happy!

I wanted to do the quilting in "meandering"....  but if you look closely you can see that I "meandered" a little to tight so it's "loopy" all over!  lol

I'm excited to have it finished and he's excited to have it! 

Merry Christmas, Blair!

Love, "Mommykins"