WIP (work in progress) Wednesday - Redecorating

After much mental debate, and trying my own quilting with minky on my machine, and having it go terribly wrong (the bobbin thread wasn't right), I decided to hire a long-arm for Steiger's quilt. But I couldn't go back to the people who don't know green. Good news! I found Natalia from piece'n quilt. Her work is SO cute (I really want to make this quilt for my sister-in-law), she's reasonably priced, and is a WAHM (work-at-home-mom). So, after I piece the back (I'm still wondering whether or not to go with minky), I will mail it off to her!

To help finish Steiger's room though, I've started on some little wall decorations. I bought this pattern by Tula Pink at Christmastime, for my Blush Fat-quarter bundle. But I wanted to try it out first. It has curved piecing and template cutting, which are a bituva challenge, but with a lot of pins, it's turning out well. This will be on Steiger's wall soon, along with some other ones.

I titled my WIP Wednesday for today "Redecorating." The truth should read "Decorating for the first time even though you've lived in your house for over 3 years." Let's face it; I don't have my mom's skill apparently. But I'm working on it. Our couch needs a quilt and pillows. I'm using Rouenneries by French General and this pattern. It's half-way finished!

In other news, I finished Julie's mini quilts. She wanted orange, so I used all the orange I had (not much), added a couple other prints, and made this completely improv "9-patch." It is sashed in Chocolate Kona Crush, and the binding is a mix of my orangey prints, including one of the vines with red leaves, giving me the *red* in the binding.

I saw a variation of this quilting somewhere in Jacquie from tallgrassprairie.blogspot.com's photostream and decided to try it out. It was my first time using my darning foot, and first free-motion quilting. It went all right. Using a dark sashing certainly complicates thread choice.

This is my favorite block

And this is the back.

Oh, and the car is back, but the "check engine soon" light came back on. It goes back to the shop tomorrow... That was one expensive bunny.

So long from my little crawler/climber!

First mini-quilt done!

I probably shouldn't show you this, until the recipient gets it, but I had a chance to upload pictures and type a bit before the babe wakes up, so I think JJ will understand.

Here's Lucy's little mini quilt!

I used Caramel Town Charlotte by Lecien and some Kona solids.

It's a really simple 9-patch, because I wanted to practice not piecing, but free motion quilting in a stippling pattern and applique for this quilt. I'm really happy with how it turned out!

Here it is!

"L" for Lucy! :)

Here's an up-close of the actual quilting... I think it went well!

The back is pretty cute too. :)

Of course it has Red Binding. :) (but sorry JJ, it's machine binding rather than hand-sewn... so much faster!)

In other news... the power steering went out on our barely 1-year old car. They called... apparently there was a live rabbit in there somewhere. Which means it probably won't be covered by warranty. *sigh*

The top is finished!

Yea for Steiger's quilt-top!

I finally sewed on the sashing last night.

Now I'm trying to decide whether or not:

- to quilt it myself, or take it to a long-arm

- to use batting with my minky backing

- to use a dark or light thread

- to use the same design edge to edge, or change it up within the blocks

- to pebble, stipple, straight line or something else...

So many decisions left to be made.

But I like it. :)

And I think he does too.

Here are some closer up shots.

For inquiring minds, most of the fabric is from Robert Kaufman's Forest Fun, with a few Animal Party and random tonal solids. Sashing is Kona Cotton in Chocolate Brown. I modified this pattern (Box Step) for the design.

Verna for paint-box

*sigh*

Never enough time to sew. Look what I have waiting for me.

It's for the Paint-box quilt along at ohfransson.com...

Verna by Moda, with Kona solids.

It is my celebration of spring, because I will be so sad that Jay will be gone most of the day.

WIP Wednesday - baby shower

So, I've decided a couple things:

1- I hate sashing. I like how it looks when it's done, but the process is boring to me. Particularly when using thin strips. I have all Steiger's blocks sewn in to rows, but I haven't done the long sashing yet. I need to get on that!

2 - Baby quilts are great. You feel like you've made so much progress, and in not a lot of time.

This is the one I will be quilting as soon as I get myself to the store to get some basting spray, or break down and use safety pins.

It's for Jay's step-sister's new boy arriving next month.

Slightly wonkified log-cabinish blocks. They look like little frames.

The focal fabric, Frolic, has little owls, raccoons, birds and squirrels.

I added some kona solids (chocolate and some others). There's a little bit of Love U in there too.

I'm hoping the chocolate minky shows up in the mail today, so I can get this finished!

Here are a couple close-ups of the blocks.

Fun to make...

I've also started on Julie's wonky mini wall quilt with orange. I tried to stick to my stash... but just couldn't. So I added a few half-yards of fabric I've been eyeing... I hope she likes it. :)

A different kind of 9 months.

Month 9

Month 8

Month 7

Month 6

Month 5

Month 4

Month 3

Month 2

Month 1

Brand new

He's currently crawling on the floor while Daddy is watching the Wildcard game.

A few fun facts:

- Steiger said "Dada" 3 days ago... but I'm not sure he knew what he was saying.

- He now hates to have his diaper or clothes changed. He lets me know.

- He crawls, but still Army style most of the time. It's more efficient.

- He has 4 top teeth, and 2 bottom teeth.

- Being outside instantly solves nearly all problems.

- He's a great communicator: happy, mad, sad... there's no questions about what he's trying to say most of the time.

- Being his mommy (and Jay's wife) is a true joy.


(He still likes the hair-dryer when going to sleep... but we no longer need it most of the day to keep him happy)

a BEE-ginner's quilting bee!

So, some of you have asked me about quilting. It really isn't terribly difficult... just takes patience and a few basic supplies.

I have decided I would like to start a swap. In this swap, we will make basic blocks for each other, and then mail them back and forth. It will only be one person/month... and 6-12 people, so nothing too overwhelming. You pick your own fabric, mail little bundles to the other folks in the group, and then they mail the blocks back to you.

Photoshop isn't currently loaded on to this computer, so I don't have a cute button ready yet, but I will.

Leave me a comment if you're interested!

These are some of the ideas I have for blocks:

A basic nine-patch

A disappearing nine-patch

Hedgerows

Wonky log-cabins

"Paint-box"

Snowball

Bento box

and more!!!

I am happy to find the tutorials and help with what I know or what I can find out. If you stop by here, and either do or don't know me in real life, feel free to voice your interest!

Thanks!

Giveaway results!

Here are the results! (Sorry, they're a bit difficult to see... but the first one is a 9, and the second is a 2).

Our winner -- Julie from jaybirdquilts!

Which is a bit intimidating actually... she's a real quilter!
But it's kind of an honor too, because she is one of those inspiring people who have helped get me involved in quilting. Go check out her site... there's some really cute stuff there, and some fun tutorials too.

Here's her comment:

jaybird said...
i love the disclaimers.
juvenile or adult? adult
seasonal or timeless? timeless
solids or patterns? patterns
modern or traditional? modern
wonky or structured? wonky
wall, doll, or pillow? wall
favorite color: orange!!!:-)

So Julie, I will get out my orange fabric, and figure up something! :)

Because I said I would give a bonus entry for people who commented on the other December entries, I decided to do a separate drawing. There were 19 comments on the other entries, and so I plugged in that number, and went back to my first December entry . Comment #2 was J.J! (You can also find her here) Here's her comment:

*jj said...
I like the more straight one... you are such a great quilter!
I'm impressed. I LOVE the star you made :)



JJ didn't actually enter the giveaway, so I'll have to poll her about her choices... or maybe just surprise her by what I know of her taste from her blog.


I will add:

Jay and Steiger were my witnesses to the legitimacy of my usage of random.org.





And this is the pillow for my sister-in-law Jamie I made this weekend. It was her birthday present.


Congratulations and thanks for playing! We'll have another one soon... AND I am planning on creating a "bee-ginner's" quilting bee (this is where you make blocks for one another and send them back and forth... we will focus on basic quilting skills and blocks... let me know if you're interested! All you need is a sewing machine, and willingness to go to a quilt shop for some basic supplies and fabric!)

Leave a comment if you're interested.