Working hard, falling behind and here comes '08

Right now my house is in a huge state of chaos. But, we are getting hardwood floors! DH and I are giving that to each other as a Christmas present. I'll have to post photos later, of a before and after. Its going to be quite dramatic.

On other fronts, I have fallen behind. The Sonnet quilt is not getting completed before Christmas. I would have needed to sew on it all weekend to finish, and instead moved furniture, removed carpeting, painted, etc. to get ready for the flooring folks, who come today.

I do have some handmade gifts though: a quilt for my Grandma, 2 Swarovski crystal bracelets (one for Mom, one for SIL), and two Christmas pillow covers for a Great Aunt and Great Uncle.

My quilting goals to finish in '08:
-Sonnet quilt (started)
-Brother's graduation quilt (started)
-DH's Christmas stocking (started)
-My Christmas stocking
-tree skirt
-quilt for friend's baby, gender unknown, due in April
-quilted tote bag for Steph (started)

Paper cutouts

I cut these out using my Xacto and some patterns from DH's cousin in Czech Republic. They came out really nice, although I'm not sure if I'm using the proper scherenschnitte technique. I think the artist is from Hlinsko or nearby.

More quilt-a-long blocks

I just got caught up with block 2 and 3 today. It really is a mystery to me what it will look like after the blocks are done--even though AmandaJean posted what her finished quilt looked like. I'm dreaming up different ways to set the blocks. Its great to be using up some stash fabrics that I haven't touched in years.

During my "photo shoot", my cat kept trying to steal the show!

Quilt is ready from the longarmer...

and I'm not even done with the Sonnet quilt! She says she still has time to quilt that one but I'll really have to kick it into high gear. She needs the top no later than Dec 15. I'm really excited to see the Ellery quilt. That's good because I've been in a funk the past few days, especially today. I'm not really wanting to whine on here, but things in my life are not going the way I want them to. Also, I'm taking some medicine that makes me nauseated 24/7. Maybe I can manage to lose a few pounds out of it though. :)

Quilt-a-long

Did you see that Crazy Mom Quilts is having a quilt along? It sounds like a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone uses for their fabrics. I'm using all stash, in traditional folksy colors. My backgrounds are not going to be all the same, but will be from the same line. Here's the first block. Don't you just love those acorns?

I've been working on the Sonnet quilt too. I'm making some headway on the half triangle corner thingies. :)

Do any of you know how to get your photos so that the text won't wrap around them?

Quickest Quilt in the West

You're gonna think I'm crazy, but I just started and finished a different quilt top! I had ordered the Ellery Spoonfuls (8.5" squares of the whole collection) and the stripe for the border. It came in early this week and was just too tempting to not sew into a quick quilt for my Grandma for Christmas. It's already off to the long arm quilter.

Please excuse the horrible photo. I was in a hurry to get it to the quilt store before they closed. The colors look a little more vivid in person.

Meanwhile, no progress was made on the Sonnet quilt, but I will get some time in tonight after I tidy up the house a bit. Dust bunnies are ruling the roost. I think I still have time but I'll have to work fast!

Fall Swap Recieved

My fall swap package arrived from my partner Ginger! Isn't the pincusion fabulous!? And the coffee cozy, which will get put to good use. :) The towel and cookie cutter may have to be tried out tomorrow. I've been craving cookies lately. And last but not least, the leaf hot pad/mit will be great when I get those cookies out of the oven.

I'm also making some progress on the Sonnet quilt. Almost all the pieces cut out, some blocks in progress, and two blocks finished. Only 28 more blocks to go!

Can I still get a quilt done by Christmas?

I hope so! It will be a fun game. The fabric is Moda Sonnet from April Cornell, and it is for my Mom and Dad. My Mom loves that fabric line and I have quite a few fat quarters of it. I started cutting it tonight.

Phenomenal quilting

All I have to say is "Wow!" The winners of the International Quilt Association 2007 juried quilt competition are online. The detail is so amazing and I can't imagine how long the makers spent on them. Something to inspire and amaze.

Free quilt and sewing patterns

I just added a link list for free quilt patterns. There are lots of great ideas and patterns out there!

Speaking of free patterns, I just made some flannel burp cloths from a free pattern. I've got two couples to give gifts to: one had a boy last week and another due with a boy in early December. The pattern was easy to put together. Here is the link. The directions I used were for sewing without a serger, flipping it inside out and topstitching. Make sure to use some sort of orange stick or blunt pointed object to smooth out the seams before ironing.



I did add two things regarding closing up the seam, although it does involve fabric glue. (I'm lazy to do anything by hand). It is much easier to sew the closure shut if you start at the indent in the middle, not at the bottom of one of the ends. Also, if you only sew a 1/4" seam and do a 1/4" topstitch, you willl most likely not sew the opening shut. I opted to use Liquid Stitch to close the opening, which is washable, quick and can't be seen. Purists may want to just use an invisible stich to close the opening.

I also experimented with one side being terrycloth instead of flannel. Maybe my sewing skills are just lacking, but the terrycloth distorts so much that the shape ended up out of whack.

Do all you Moms out there prefer this style of burp cloth or this?

Fall Swap work in progress

I'm working on this runner for Chara's fall swap. Just the binding to go. I really hope my partner likes it. We'll each have one since I'm making two. It is using fabrics from Acorn Hollow by Kathy Schmidt. Normally, I don't use fabric all from one line, but I first liked the polka dots, then how the rest of it all went together. The pattern is called Fat Quarter Table Runner. I tried fusible fleece instead of my normal batting with spray baste that the pattern called for. That made it a bit puffy so I tried some extra quilting. You might be able to see in the photo that I ripped it out since it made it all get wrinkly. Actaully, it is pretty good with the fusible fleece so I'll leave it. Next time I'll have to try using regular batting and see what works better.

eBay score

I really lucked out with this one. My eBay purchase of 3 whole yards Joel Dewberry fabric for less than $4/yard (including shipping!) arrived today. I can't wait to do something with it. Aqua blue, chocolate brown, pale cocoa... yummy!

I'm going to have to curb my enthusiasm for a moment though, as I've got some other projects I want to finish.

First post!

I decided to try this blogging thing out. Check back too see more of the quilting, sewing or other crafting projects I'm working on.