More Projects

Good morning people (not that I have any people yet but...).  I just wanted to post some links to BOM that I'm looking at so I can find is later.  Recently I saw this link up for Farmer's Wife Blocks so I bought the book for that from Amazon and while I'm doing that I decided why not make two some of the blocks and use them for this Quilt Barn Along from Bee In My Bonnet. This one is a random block sampler from Bloomin' Workshop.  (I would be only like 7 months behind).

There's also another one that I have lost in my blog reading that involves just jelly rolls. *Update:  I found its Christa's QAL!!! YEA!!* I have to find it and post a link to it. Here's one from The Elven Gardens called "How Far Will You Go".  Another epic quilt I would like my hands in is the Marcelle Medallion quilt in The book Liberty Love by Alexia Marcelle Abegg.  Here's one of them in a WIP.  I got the book reserved at the library can't wait!!!

So many projects so little time, isn't that the story of my life and my list just keep getting bigger.  I honestly think I would get more sewing done if there's a TV in the basement with me. 

The next thing I need to figure out is how to grab a button to post it on my blog.

Lots of Goodies

I originally posted about this QAL from Freshly Pieced and decided right away that I wouldn't be able to do it because of the cost but I have reconsidered.  No, I didn't  come into any hidden stash of cash but for some reason when I took a closer look at the list of the supplies, I realize that I would need only 1/4 yd of each color which in all reality isn't too bad even if it is 17, yes 17, different fabrics.  I would've loved to use the pearl bracelet collection she is using but mama ain't got that kind of money so I chose to just go pick up some that were as close to it as I can get.  I really got inspired by another blogger who again I can't find for the life of me, she had posted the fabric she was going to use, and that's when I utter up the courage to try it out.  These are my fabric:

See 17 isn't too many!

Another thing on the supply list is the special 8"creative 60 degree ruler.  It just happen to be the exact ruler I need for another quilt I wanted to make so the other night when I was ordering the Farmer's Wife Samplers Quilt Book I decided to order one in order to get free shipping.  Speaking of online shopping, I got my first online fabric order today!  The funny thing is I had forgotten what I ordered and was completely surprised when I opened the package and saw:

Luckily it came with a business card cuz I had no clue who I had ordered from.

It just happens that I received my email from Fluffy Sheep Quilting about our Rainbow Charm Swap with our assigned color and guess what color group I'm in?  AQUA!!! I wanted to buy from Cindy's ahop since it is my first charm swap but there wasn't too many choices so I ventured out and got this beauty.  I ordered it and now it's all about waiting for it to come.  But that's it for my day and to think I thought I had nothing to post about because I didn't do any sewing.

Switched to Bloglovin'

Thanks to one of the blogs I found from yesterday's WIP Wednesday (sorry I looked at so many and they connected to so many more, I kind of lost track of which one it came from) I chose to go with bloglovin' for my switch and it was easier than ever.  Just go to their website and there is a button ready for you to press to switch everything over.

Now this a special treat for me, two of my aunts are in two from California and I was showing them some of the stuff I was working on and this is what my Aunt Ngoc showed me from her phone

Isn't it a beauty,  she did this by hand,  I remember her working on embroidery when I was little but never really appreciated it.  It is so hard for me to imagine doing this, not that I don't want to, but it seems like it would be impossible.  I should probably start off with cross stitching first.  

I was also able to finish a second row on this quilt, isn't it funny that when you start sewing you're like this is going pretty fast I'm sure I can do 2 or 3 rows but by the end of it you're like I still have to press this :)

WIP Wednesday

 

Welcome to my first WIP Wednesday post.  Today I'm working on the front of my 2 1/2 quilt and got the first row done.  The fabric is all cut but it needs to be sewn.  This first row took overall an hour to sew and press.  The finished quilt should be 75" x 75" so can we say a bigger ironing board please.

I am also working on my March block from the Sisters' Ten  BOM I'm following.  I got it cut out, sewed the HST but now I need a new ruler because mine is only 3" wide and my finished square needs to be 3 1/2".  

Thanks for checking out my blog on this WIP Wednesday, now I have to figure what I'm going to do about Blog Reader going away.   Any information about what I need to do would be greatly appreciated.

Almost There

I got to finish block two from the Gen X Quilters BOM that I've been trying to catch up on.  That means one more to go and I'm golden until next month.  Since I was playing catch up I didn't really pick out enough fabric for the whole quilt yet and just kind of pulling as I go so I'm not sure that everything is going to match. I might end up having to redoing a block or two later but I'll just let it ride for right now.  This block came together a lot faster then the first but I probably won't be able to say that for the third but here's my version of Susannah

And here it is with the first blocks I made 

The colors are starting to grow on me.  What do you think?

Paper Pieced Quilting

I didn't get to sew anything yesterday but I did get to look at a lot of blogs and this is what I came across, Freshly Pieced.  She has so many amazing projects but this one caught my eyes.  She just announced this one but I can't quite afford it yet so I'll have to hold off for now.  Another cool thing about her quilts is they're paper pieced which a technique I want to try.  I read about it in other blogs but nothing really made me want to try until this one from Quiet Play.  I've missed the first two locks but this third one is really cute.  So with this much inspiration what's a girl to do but sew on.  It's spring break here with 3" of snow outside so we'll see if I have anything to show at the end of the day.  Happy Monday everyone!

Fabric Giveaway

Another great thing about quilting blogs is there are always some kind of giveaways,  whether it be fabric or patterns, they're always so exciting.  Today I'm entering this one from 44th street fabrics, the chevron is so amazing it would be so nice to win.

Scrappy Saturday

My scrappy quilt is really my 2nd/3rd WIP.  My husband was giving me such a hard time for working on a BOM that I finally gave in and concentrated on it.

Believe it or not this is the backing for another quilt I am planning on making.

I decided on the front design first but then my lovely hubby had this great idea of "why don't you use the rest of material on the back like that one design you wanted to paint our next piece of refurbish."  That is also how this became OUR quilt and how this was his great masterpiece.

2 Quilt tops one quilt = my 2nd and half quilt I guess :)

I was also able to finish the two January's BOM and it was a lot harder then I originally thought.  The first one I kept getting the pattern wrong (as you can see from my previous post and the second one was always coming out just a little but off.  Overall I liked the way they turned out.  I even got to go back to Jo Ann for fabric with big prints.

It turns out the other BOM I was looking for was also on Gen X Quilters 

BOM are the bomb!!!

In the true nature of a crafter I started another quilt before finishing a WIP (my husband is shaking his head).  I was looking through lots of blogs and came across BOMs and QALs.  Yea I've been waiting to use some quilting jargons.  What I like about them is its a step by step tutorial that you can work at your own pace and you can really start at anytime you want even if it's over.  The only drawback of starting one after everyone else is finished is you don't get to link up with everyone with your own results.  Another type of BOM I came across were the ones offered by bloggers connected to a fabric store that would send you a pattern and fabric once a month which sounds pretty cool but its a bit out of my price range right now.

So I've finally decided just to dive into one instead of saying "one day".  This is the first BOM I'm following, it started in January so there has been three blocks already but I think I can catch up.  Here's the fabric I pulled for this first block:

And here's my first block assembled but not stitched yet.  As you can see I changed the middle piece, the other one just wasn't looking so good in this setting.

I decided to do 12" blocks

Have you done any BOMs or QALs lately?  Any recommendations for a beginner?  Here's one called Virtual Quilting Bee and a Row Along.  There's one more that involves a charm pack and linen but I can't find it anymore, does anyone know what I'm talking about?

Quilt #1 The start of it all

As I said before this whole thing started with an inspiration found at the library.  I saw this bright quilt in Quick Colorful Quilts designed by Rosemary Wilkinson.  It's called Sevens and Nines and uses bright red, orange, and yellow.  I would say this a very good beginners quilt that still has a little bit of a challenge to it.  Here's one of the blocks

Aren't the colors summery? My husband says its more fall than summer.

The finished size is 45x57 inches.

New Stuff

This is the part that makes me cringe sometimes, the price for everything.  Jo Ann is having their friends and family sale this weekend so I decided it would a great time to stock up on supplies and here's what I got:

Some fabric for an unknown project as well as some fabric for a planned third quilt, a triangular ruler (I was looking for an 8" 360 degree ruler but this is what they had) and my most favorite thing is my new quitters design wall.  Not in the picture is quilters paper for some hexagon shaping.  I had bought  a full roll of batting but that only let me use my 40% off coupon so I'm going to return it and wait until next week when there's a 50% coupon.  There's a Jo Ann app for smartphones that gives you extra coupons.  Have you used it before?

I was also able to make it over to the Pepperidge Farms' Outlet store and got lots of goodies for only $20.  

Meet My Machine

This is exciting my first blog hop so hopefully I get it right.  It's called Meet My Machine and I've got a couple for you to check out.  My background is in alterations, I started working at the Alterations Station about 6 years ago not knowing anything about sewing but that same Christmas my mom got a brand new home sewing machine from one of her friends as a gift.  Not so shabby except my mom didn't know how to sew so she gave it to me not that I knew what to with it either.  So I read the instructions and was able to figure it out enough to do simple stuff.

(Currently I got a walking foot on it to experiment and the feeder down but I think I broke it in the process because now the feeder won't come back up, any ideas?)

I didn't really get into serious sewing until a couple years back and since then I've mainly been doing alterations on clothing on an industrial machines and boy do those baby sew.  After learning to use an industrial machine, my home machine seemed soooo slow.  My hubby recently bought me my
very own and it was so heavy that we decided it was better off in the basement.

Considering its built into the table it was much more friendly on the wallet than all these other amazing quilting machines I've got my eye on because this machine only does one thing, straight lines, fast but straight lines only.  It was good enough for my first quilt though.  

Thanks for checking out my machines.

Sewing Bug

I've definitely been bit by the sewing bug.  One moment I'm at the library one day picking up Dr. Who season 6 and next thing you know I'm in the quilting section looking at all these beautiful books full of blocks and patchwork.  I found my inspiration and finished my first ever quilt.  One thing led to the next and now I'm one my 2nd/3rd (I'll explain more later) and looking at all the blogs I can get my hand on and now here's my first ever blog to the world.  Next thing I need is to figure out how to put pictures on here but it'll have to wait until i get some beauty sleep.  For now, good night my future reader!!!