February/March goals

Here we are at the end of February already! So, how did you do on your February goals? I did a pretty good job, although I didn't finish all my goals. Here's how the month turned out:

1. Piece the 2nd border for my Fibonacci's Challenge quilt. Done. See the latest progress here.

2. Make 5 blocks to send to Alycia for her block drive. You still have a bit of time to join in the fun. For every 5 blocks of her pattern that you send to her by March 8th, your name will be put in a drawing for a gorgeous fat quarter pack. Done. See this post for details. In the collage above, the blocks look like they're different sizes, but that's only because of the way I cropped the two photos.

3. Make 1 block for my All-Star UFO quilt. Almost done. But technically, I do have until midnight tonight to finish it! Check back tomorrow for my First Friday UFO post to see what block I'm working on...

4. Embellish the February seams of CQJP 2013. Okay, not very far along at all. I need to recapture my enthusiasm for this project.

My two extra credit projects were:

1. Finish 9 block A's of Easy Street (I'm trying not to be too ambitious with Easy Street this month!) Done. Here's the post about it.

2. Baste and quilt my AP&Q Mystery Quilt. Not started. I was planning on working on this over my long Presidents' Day Weekend, but other things came up. I guess I'll keep transferring this to the following month's extra credit list!

March goals:

1. Piece the 3rd border for my Fibonacci's Challenge quilt.

2. Sew twelve blocks together for my All-Star UFO quilt.

3. Embellish the February and March seams of CQJP 2013.

4. Trace, cut, and fuse appliques for Makenna Ryan 12" mini-quilt. (I'm feeling a need to work on something that doesn't have Christmas fabrics, since both Fibonacci and Easy Street are Christmasy.)

My two extra credit projects are:

1. Finish 3 block B's of Easy Street.

2. Baste my AP&Q Mystery Quilt.

I will have the last week of the month off work for spring break, so hopefully I can get all this done:)

Here's the poster I made to hang in my studio, as a reminder of my goals:

 

See how other quilters are doing on their monthly goals over at Judy's.

Happy stitching!

Fibonacci Border #2 finished

Last night, my son's basketball game was cancelled due to a snow storm, so I got some extra time for sewing! I finished making the corner stars for Fibonacci's Challenge, then I sewed the three strips together for the rest of the border. At this point, the quilt is 28 1/2 inches square, including seam allowances. Starting March 1st, I can take this to the quilt shop to show my progress and I'll get the directions for border #3. I can't wait to see what they have us do next :)

 

Happy stitching!

Starting Fibonacci's Border #2

Things have been busy around here. Last weekend my in-laws came to visit. This week, my older son had an indoor track meet an hour away and my younger son had 6 basketball games (four of them were at a tournament over the weekend). Plus I've been fighting some sort of head cold, which means I haven't spent much time sewing.

Yesterday I did get started on my second border for my Fibonnaci's Challenge quilt. The requirements for this border are that you have to use at least one half-square triangle (HST) in the border. You can use more than one, and they can be different sizes. This border needs to finish at 4" wide (like border #1), and you have to use the challenge fabric somewhere in the border.

After sketching out some different possibilities, I decided I wanted to make 4" sawtooth stars for the four corners. The sides of the borders will have three stripes: the gold scrollwork that was the smaller star in the center of the quilt, the green that was the larger star in the quilt center, and the marble challenge fabric.

Here's one of my corner stars. Each star will have a different red fabric. As you can see, I used HSTs to make the red star points that have the challenge fabric background. Since these HSTs finish at 1 inch, I decided to use Thangles triangle paper to help with precision piecing. For the green background star points, I made flying geese instead of bothering with HSTs.

I have to mention that my 11-year-old helped me with a design decision for this border! I showed him two mock-ups, and he said if I wanted it to be boring, I should go with the choice on the right. So I decided to go with the choice on the left.

You can see what's on other people's design walls over at Judy's.

Happy stitching!

Good news, Bad news

Today was a good news, bad news kind of day. Bad news because my youngest child stayed home sick (but no vomiting, thankfully). Good news because I got to stay home and take care of him, which mainly consisted of pushing fluids. And what did I do on my bonus day off? Housework? Although I probably should have, that's no fun to blog about. So instead, I visited some blogs this morning, including a few new ones. That led me to spending waaayyy too much time on Pinterest. Then I eventually went into my studio and guess what I did?

I finished assembling the nine A blocks for Easy Street!!!!!! Here they are just side by side.

This is kind of what they will look like when they're set on point. I am so glad to be done with this step. Now I need to work on block B, but since I'm making my quilt smaller than Bonnie Hunter's, I only need to make 4 of B.

Happy stitching!

Design Wall Monday - Easy Street progress

 

Not too much on my design wall this week. Last week, I stopped at the quilt shop to pick up my directions for the second border of my Fibonacci's Challenge quilt. Over the weekend, while I let some border ideas simmer in my brain, I worked a bit more on Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street. I've got all the rows assembled for all my block A's.

When I first started the Easy Street mystery, I decided to make three-fourths of the units Bonnie was making, since I did not want to make mine as large as hers. After the final reveal, I decided to make 9 block A's, 4 block B's, 8 setting triangles, and 4 corner triangles. If my calculations are correct, that will make the center a 63 inch square. Borders will enlarge it to a good lap-quilt size.

Go see some more design walls at Judy's.

Happy stitching!

CQJP January block

Here's my January block for CQJP 2013, just a few days late :) This block is in the upper left corner of the quilt. You'll notice that the seam embellishments start out black in the upper left corner and turn to gray then white as they get closer to the center. In the close-ups, the black fabrics look washed out; the last photo is a better representation of the color.

This seam has a star-type stitch.

Here are more of the seam treatments.

This is the whole quilt (with just the black fabrics). At this point, I'm not going to do any beads or buttons on the black fabrics. I don't want those to have any bling. I want the center to shine.

Happy stitching.

The Liebster Award

In the spirit of the Oscars, the Grammys, and the SAG awards, I have been awarded the Liebster Award by Kevin from Kevin the Quilter. Thank you, Kevin! I'll skip the long, boring acceptance speech and just tell you what this award is all about. It's given from bloggers to bloggers. To qualify, the blog must have less than 200 followers or be less than 6 months old. Once the award has been bestowed upon you, you need to write a post with the following things:

1. List 11 random things about yourself.
2. Answer 11 questions posed by the nominator.

3. Choose 11 blogs to pass the award on to and link to them in your post.

4. Create 11 questions for those 11 bloggers to answer.

 

My 11 Random Things:

 

1. I LOVE LOVE LOVE books.

2. I met my future husband in the college library, where I was working.

3. I hate peas.

4. I stayed up until 4:00 in the morning to finish reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the day I bought it.

5. My favorite types of candy are Peanut Butter Twix, Peanut Butter M-n-M's, and Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (do you see a theme here?).

6. I've read Pride and Prejudice more times than I can count.

7. I will NEVER have any gray hairs ~ those are silver hairs sprinkled on my head :)

8. I am a teacher (elementary) married to a teacher (high school).

9. I've run 2 half-marathons and 2 sprint-distance triathlons.

10. I have never broken a bone.

11. I believe all things are possible with God.

 

Answers to Kevin's questions:

 

1. Who is the person most responsible for introducing you to quilting? My maternal Grandmother. She had very bad hips, so she spent a lot of time making things with her hands. She made quilts for her 5 children and her 20 grandchildren. Here are the quilts she made for my sisters and me in 1980:

That's me in the back holding the yellow and orange quilt (it matched my bedroom).

2. What is the first quilting project you ever made, and how old were you when you made it? I made a wall-hanging after I saw a similar one in a JoAnn Fabrics sale flyer. I bought the pattern and fabrics at JoAnn. I was 23 years old. I still hang this up every Christmas. I hand quilted stars in the setting triangles and straight lines in the trees.

3. Who is your most favorite quilt designer? Hmmm...that's a hard one. I'm not sure that I have a "favorite."

4. How many quilting projects have you made to date? Started or finished???? I've completed 18 - 20. I have another 15 or so UFO and WIP quilts.

5. What is your most favorite breed of dog? Well, I'm not really a dog person. (Bad experience with a neighbor's dog). But I think Siberian Huskies are beautiful.

6. What color is the shell on the eggs you eat? White

7. What is the longest flight you have ever been on, and where were you going? Approximately 9 hours or so, flying from Chicago, IL to Zurich, Switzerland. 

8. Which is your most favorite city to visit? That's a tie between London and Paris, although I'd love to visit both of them without chaperoning a group of high schoolers so I could see things that aren't on the set tour.

9. Where is the best Quilt Shop you have ever been to, and what is it’s name? I'm lucky to have 6 great quilt shops that are located between 5 and 40 minutes from my home. They specialize in different types of fabrics and offer different classes, so I don't think I can choose a best.

10. Do you have a large or small family? Medium. The family I grew up in consisted of my parents, my 2 sisters, and me. Now I'm married with 3 children.

11. Have you ever gone fishing? If so, what is the biggest fish you have ever caught? I've gone fishing a couple of times with my husband, but I've never caught a fish.

 

Blog nominees (in no particular order):

The Little House on the Hill

Living My Dream

Desert Sky Quilting

Sane and Crazy Quilting
Carpe Lanam
Quilting on the Road
Dee Dee's Quilts
My Creative Corner
My Crazy Quilting Life
Paint Creek Quilt
Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Questions for Nominees:

1. Cat or Dog?

2. What is your favorite TV show?

3. What color are the walls in your living room?

4. What is the largest quilt you have made?

5. What are you listening to right now?

6. Do you use a mac or a pc?

7. How many states/countries have you lived in?

8. What is your favorite book?

9. Who is the teacher who most influenced you and what did he/she teach?

10. What is one thing you would stay up late to do?

11. Did you play any sports in high school or college? If so, what?

Have fun! Thanks to all the bloggers who make the internet seem like one big quilt guild. I love seeing everyone's projects in progress.

Design Wall Monday February 4, 2013

This weekend, I whipped up 5 blocks for Alycia's block drive. All the blocks that are collected will be made into quilts for Quilts of Valor, which donates quilts to members of the military who have been touched by war. Alycia has supplied the directions for this block drive. It's a log cabin variation...easy peasy! I set up a temporary design wall to photograph the blocks by putting a piece of batting over my ancient cardboard cutting board and standing it up. The batting is only big enough for one row of blocks, so here are three of them.

Here are the other 2 blocks for the block drive. I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but the outer ring of fabric on the right block has a white background with "USA" repeated in lines. For the center of each block, I used some fabrics from an old Moda Charm Pack called "red white and bold."

It's not too late to make some blocks for Alycia's block drive. For every 5 that you send to her by March 8th, your name gets put into a drawing for a beautiful fat quarter pack. And QOV is definitely a good cause!

I also got some more units sewn together for block A of Easy Street. Since I'm using these as my leaders/enders, the units come together pretty quickly, in between other projects.

Go visit Judy to see lots of other design walls.

Happy stitching!

First Friday UFO - February

Happy First Friday of February! That means that it is time for another "First Friday UFO" post. If you recall, I started doing these posts back in August. I was contemplating doing an "Almost Free BOM" at a local quilt shop when I realized that I've got PLENTY of UFOs sitting in the armoire, so I could do my own little Block of the Month program. Each month, I make one block for my UFO and show it on the first Friday of the next month. Right now I'm working on my All Star quilt.

Here's the block I made in January. Does that center look familiar? When I was making my New Year's Day QOV from Judy's pattern, I had an extra 6 1/2 " piece of a red-cream-red subset. Since these stars finish at 12 inches, that piece was perfect for the center of this star. I also thought it was cool to put a bit of my first QOV into this All Star quilt. I will be keeping this quilt for my family room.

Here's a closeup of the blue fireworks fabric that makes up the star points. You probably can't see it real well in the photo, but there are silver streaks in the fireworks.

With this block, I've made 12 blocks for this quilt, and 12 was my goal. I made this little collage in Photoshop to show you all 12 together. Believe it or not, every block has the same cream background fabric! Depending on the lighting when I took each of the photos, it looks different in different blocks. I don't think this is how I will eventually set the quilt; I just made the collage to show all 12 blocks together.

I just have one problem. "One of these things is not like the others." Raise your hand if you remember that song from "Sesame Street"!

The block up in the top right corner doesn't work for me. For one thing, it's only two fabrics (the cream background and the blue print), while all the other blocks have at least three fabrics (the cream background, one or more red, and one or more blue). Also, this block is not a sawtooth base and it has the blue fabric in the four corners. I really like the block on its own; I made it in a class at a quilt shop. But I don't like it in this quilt.

My plan is to make this one block into a throw pillow and I'll make one more block this month so I have 12 for the quilt. This month as I work on that last block, I'm also going to be thinking about how I want to set the quilt.

Happy Stitching!