Design Wall Monday 01/25/16

I saw this block recently and really liked it.  It is really easy to make, so I am using it for the Block Lottery for my class.  Other than that, no sewing again for me.  One day after work I did get the itch to work on something, so I cut out a block for my Farm Girl Vintage quilt.  I got all of the pieces cut and planned to sew them together the next day, but that didn't happen.  I'm hoping to get it sewn together tonight.  I'm bummed that I have not had much to show on my blog lately.  I think about sewing all day during work, but by the time I get home I'm usually too tired.  Hopefully when it starts warming up and stays light later, I'll be able to sew after work.  I did really well last year and got a lot accomplished, so I hope to get back in that groove.

I did make a really good soup yesterday.  It was butternut squash soup made in the crock pot.  It has a green apple in it that made it a little sweet.  I will definitely make it again, but I will probably use chicken stock instead of vegetable stock.  Good stuff!

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone is working on today. Also linking up with Let's Bee Social on the Sew Fresh Quilts blog on Wednesday, and Quilt Story on Tuesday.

Design Wall Monday 01/11/16

I finished a quilt top yesterday.  It almost didn't come together, though.  I ended up catching whatever bug has been going around and it thoroughly kicked my butt for a while.  I am thankful that it wasn't worse - this time last year I was getting over my second cold of the season and those both lasted a couple of weeks.  This time I was knocked out for about three days, but was still weak and out of it for several more.  I do have my class preview night tonight, so I had to push through and get this project done.  It's a design that's been floating around the Internet for a while now in various forms.  Most recently it was featured on the Fat Quarter Shop's blog.  Their version was bigger.  I did make enough blocks to make their version, but it was just too big.  Now I have enough leftover blocks to make a baby quilt, so no worries there.  It was so fast and easy - it uses charm squares, so most of the cutting was already done.  I pulled the white-on-white print out of my stash.  Hooray for stash busting!! That piece is completely gone now - I used every bit with no scraps leftover.

That was all I managed to accomplish this week.  Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone is working on this week.  Also linking up with Let's Bee Social and Quilt Story later this week.

Design Wall Monday 04/27/15

I have a couple of new things on my Design Wall today.  Above I have my latest obsession, which is this flower block.  It is so easy to make and is great for using up scraps.  It can easily be made in multiple sizes because it goes together like a four-patch block.  I'm using it for the Block Lottery pattern for my quilt class, but I think I may go beyond that and make an entire quilt for a future class project.  We'll see.  I might have a new obsession next week and this one will never get made!

I also have some stash to report.  I needed to get a backing and batting for the quilt below, and decided to go over to Hancock Fabrics.  I haven't been there before - we moved here a year ago and I haven't really been buying much fabric, so I thought I'd check it out.  I walked in and thought I was going to faint!  There was so much quilting fabric there and almost all of it was on sale.  I exercised a LOT of restraint, but I did end up buying for multiple projects.  The large white piece above will be the background for the Farm Girl Vintage sew along. It is white on off-white print.  I've been using a lot of pure white fabric lately and decided an off-white would be a nice change.  I also got a beautiful gold print and the orange print above.  Not shown is the batting and backing, and a few smaller pieces that are going to be given away.

Lastly I wanted to show another quilt that I have been working on.  This was to be for my husband's grandmother, who was in a care facility.  It was a perfect size for her wheelchair, and a little bit of comfort, as she used to be a quilter.  Unfortunately, she passed away before I could finish the quilt.  I stopped working on it for a while, but then decided that I would go ahead and finish it, and donate it to the facility that took such good care of her.  They can give it to someone in her memory, and so it can still give comfort to someone who needs it.  It is the same pattern that I made recently in patriotic colors.  I bought a nice cozy pink flannel for the back.  I will layer it and do some utility quilting in the ditch on my home machine.  Hopefully I can get this finished up soon.  It really is the proper shape in person - this picture was taken on my design wall which folds up accordion-style.  It the wall is not fully flattened out here, so the quilt is a little distorted in the picture.

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone is working on today!

Design Wall Monday 04/13/15

 

I did some power sewing this weekend!  The blocks on the design wall above are all separate in the picture, but are one complete quilt top right now.  I moved around a couple of blocks after the picture was taken.  I did manage to turn one block in the bottom row on Saturday night, which got sewn into the quilt top.  I had to un-sew three sides to get it turned the right way again.  Urgh!  This quilt it a departure for me.  I usually work on a much smaller scale and prefer to work on smaller pieces.  The colors are not my norm either.  I thought I'd try something new and not be so predictable.  I will be teaching this one in my quilting class that starts tonight!



Above is what I had to pull off my design wall in order to work on the quilt at the top of the blog.  I got the last of the blocks of the runner sewn together and the border sewn on.  Eventually there will be brown binding on the runner to frame it.  I may also trim down the border a little bit before I bind it.  I'll see how it looks on the table after quilting and make my decision then.  I will also be teaching this project in tonight's class.

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone has on their design walls today!

Design Wall Monday 03/30/15

I did some sewing last week and got a great start on the table runner shown above.  We had house guests this weekend, so I did not get to do any sewing, but the runner is still on my design wall.  Other than that, just a few old (but not forgotten) projects so the wall doesn't look too neglected!  Tonight is the final quilt class of the winter session, which is always a fun night!  We have a pot luck, door prizes, and block lottery drawing.  The class is small this session, but still a lot of fun.  I get a break next Monday, then the class starts up again in April with the spring session.  That will take us into June.  I just need to finish up a couple of projects and write the patterns and I'll be set until fall.

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone else is working on today!

Design Wall Monday 02/02/15

I'm back!  I've been down with another cold.  This is the second one since Christmas.  I don't know if it is a particularly bad strain, or if I'm just getting old, but I am having a heck of a time recovering.  As they say, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired!  But I seem to be mostly mended now.  I did have to take a nap yesterday, which I never do.  I'm looking forward to a more productive week this week.  The last two weeks have been mostly a loss.

On a "brighter" note, my husband replaced the lights in my sewing room with "true light" LED bulbs.  Oh man what a difference!  It is like noon on a summer day in there no matter what time it is.  My picture above isn't yellow like the previous pics.  I couldn't be happier.

The top block above is the one I showed in my last post.  It is the January mystery block from Pat Sloan.  February's pattern should be released today.  The lower block is the Block Lottery block for my class tonight.  I hand out the pattern and each student can make one or more if they wish.  For every block they make, their name will be thrown in a hat and I will draw on the last class.  The winner gets all of the blocks.  I flipped through some books and found the one above, called Amish Square.  I like it!

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what is on everyone's Design Walls today.

Finally Finished

I finally finished the quilt top pictured above on Easter morning.  I put the last border on and then rushed out the door!  I brought it over to Easter dinner and when I opened it up to show everyone, my youngest nephew laid down on it and pretended to be asleep.  Very cute. I guess it passes the "good enough to use" test!  I'm calling it Chain Link.  There are black borders that you can't see in the picture.  I took a full picture of it on Monday night, but it was hanging kind of wonky.  I'll try to get another one soon.

It took about 5 yards (mostly) all out of my stash.  I ended up buying the narrow gold border, but the rest I already had!

I wasn't liking it very much as I was making it, but this kind of design really doesn't shine until it is all put together.  Now I'm pretty happy with it!

Design Wall Monday 03/26/12

No Just Takes 2 blocks on today's Design Wall.  Instead I have blocks for a new project that I'm working on.  I drafted it out in EQ7 and it will be for my upcoming quilting class starting in a few weeks.  Unfortunately, I fell behind on the many projects that I'm trying to keep up with because I was down with the stomach flu this week.  It just wiped me out for a few days.  I still didn't feel much like sewing this weekend, but I did do a little on Saturday and then quite a bit on Sunday.  If I work on it steadliy this week after work, I should be in pretty good shape.

Check out Judy L's blog to see what is on everyone else's Design Walls today!

Stash Busting - Week 2

Last week I mentioned that I had finished a quilt top.  I posted about it on my Design Wall a while back.  It's not a large top, so when I counted up the yardage, it only came out to 3.5 yards.  Even though it's not much, I'm off to a good start for 2012!  This is for a class I'm teaching beginning tomorrow night at the VMSC.  Hey, if anyone's local to Redwood City, CA, come on by at 6:00 pm and sign up and pick up the supply lists!

I also finished a second project today.  It is a miniature version of a quilt I made last year.  All totalled, I'm guessing it only came out to about 1 yard, but I had to get a fat quarter for the border.  Anyway, still going in the right direction!  Let's hope I can keep my momentum going.

Fabric in this week:  0.25 yards

Fabric in this year:  0.25 yards

Fabric out this week:  4.50 yards

Fabric out this year:  4.50 yards

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see how everyone else is doing!

Design Wall Monday - 09/12/11

I've been battling a bad head cold for a few days and I think I'm finally winning.  Unfortunately that means I lost most of my weekend.  I have the preview night for my quilting class tonight and I had to get the last of my projects and supply lists ready.  Above is the Disappearing Four Patch project that I sewed together on Saturday, but was unable to get the borders on yet. It came out a lot smaller than I had anticipated.  30 seemed like a lot of blocks, but they only finish at 8" square, so it's fairly small - I'd say smaller than a twin.  I can either put a few borders on it or make more blocks.  I haven't decided yet.  Maybe a pieced border would look good.  We'll see.  It's a work in progress!  I do love the look of this pattern.  If I make it again, I'll probably start with 6" squares instead of 5" squares and maybe make it less scrappy.  That way I can still make the same number of blocks, but it will come out bigger.

Check out Judy L's blog to see what is on other people's design walls!

Design Wall Monday 08/15/11

I haven't done much sewing in the past few weeks.  Just too darn tired and also the computer issues have kept me from sewing and posting. However, I realized that I have only one short month (less than that actually), to get my projects together for the Fall session of my quilting class, so I started getting some work done.  I've done a lot of planning and designing, and now I think I'm ready to roll.  I pulled a bunch of oranges from my stash (above, right) to start on a fall themed project (I see pumpkins in my future!).  The only actual sewing I was able to do was to put together the four quadrants of my color wheel, which is not a class project.  I need to put some borders or something on it to contain the bias edges while I figure out the rest of the design.  My plan is to sew a little every day after work and see how much progress I can make.

Check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone else is working on!

I'm Still Here

I'm still here! I feel like I keep saying that lately. Lots going on and then there's that pesky work thing that takes up most of my day...

The fall session of the quilting class that I teach began last night and I have a pretty good size crowd this time around. The pillow that I was working on in my last post (last month) came together very quickly and is one of the projects that I am presenting in class. Everyone seems pretty excited about it, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. Now I just need to make a matching one for Lance to keep the peace! I draw the line at making one for Bear, our cat. He claims everything as his own anyway, so he's got plenty.

Next I made a twisted pinwheel quilt that was really fun and surprisingly easy to put together. These have become really popular lately, but the concept has actually been around for years. My mom pulled out a pattern from the early 90's that used the same technique! It just goes to show that there's rarely (if ever) anything truely new in the quilt world! And best of all, the entire quilt top was made from stash fabric, as was the pillow!!

The third project is the same one that I taught at a local quilt shop in the Summer. This one is so fast it can be put together in a day. One student is on her second top and we only just had the first class! To be fair, I gave pre-cutting instructions at the end of the last session, and she figured out the rest on her own. No stash used on this one - I splurged and bought everything I needed. I don't have a lot of batiks in my stash and I felt that they would look really good in this design.

Now I need to calculate all of the stash I used so I can add it to my (non) weekly report. I've been lax on that so I need to put a little work in on that. Next up, two charity quilts, one Christmas gift and a lovely quilt show this weekend.

Stashbusting 2010 - Week 24

I finished the quilt for the summer class, which I'll also be teaching in the Fall. I went with all batik fabrics on this one. I haven't used batiks for a while and I thought the mottled colors lent themselves well to this type of design. I'm really pleased with it, and it went together very quickly. So now I'll be teaching the Zig Zag quilt as well as this one at the three-day workshop later this month.

I did add to my stash since I posted last. I bought all of the fabric for this quilt plus 1/4 yard, which came to 4.5 yards. But then I get to count 4.25 yards back out for finishing the top!

Fabric added this week: 4.50 yards

Fabric used this week: 4.25 yards

Fabric added this year: 17.00 yards

Fabric used this year: 19.75 yards

Total fabric used this year: 2.75 yards

Stash Busting 2010 - Week 16

I finally made a zig zag quilt!! I had a great fat quarter bundle from the Hopscotch line made by Red Rooster. I didn't know what I was going to do with them when I got them about a year ago, but they worked perfectly in this quilt. It turned out bigger than I expected and I could only get a good picture of it when I hung it for the class preview last week. A draft blew over the lower left-hand corner that I only noticed the next day. It really is square down there in real life! The picture is a little dark, but the white is nice and bright and crisp in person. I am teaching the "no triangle" technique for making this design in class this session. I'm very happy with it. I didn't get a really good count on the yardage used because I have a lot left over, but I'm going to count this as 5 yards that is finally GONE from my stash. I only had to buy the border fabrics, but I did add those to the stash count already.

Next is Friendship Star Twist. I was playing around with colors and I decided the stars looked a bit like flowers and if I colored those red with gold centers, and made the corners green, I would get that flower effect. For some reason, it just didn't occur to me that this would end up looking like a Christmas quilt. Oh well, I didn't have one of those, so now I do! Christmas in Spring! This is not a very large quilt, so I think it will end up mostly as decoration during the holidays. All but the outer border came from stash, which was already added into the count, so I'm figuring a good three yards here.

The third project is a table runner that is actually finished (the other two are tops only), but there is just a small run of binding that is still not sewn down, so I'll take a picture of that one later. That one came completely from the stash. Not sure on yardage here, either -- I'll say 1 1/2 yards out (including the backing and binding).

It's so nice to have some "finishes" to report. I also gave away some fabric as a birthday gift, which amounted to about 1 1/4 yards.

Class officially starts tonight. We'll be zigging and zagging and having a good time, too! If I'm lucky, I'll be able to squeeze in a Dear Jane block tonight. We'll see...

Fabric added this week: 0.00 yards

Fabric used this week: 9.25 yards

Fabric added this year: 8.50 yards

Fabric used this year: 15.00 yards

Total stash busted this year: 6.50 yards

Stash Busting 2010 - Week 4

Today we went to the Kint Tut exhibit at the De Young Museum in San Francisco. It was pretty fun except that it was very crowded. Difficult to see the actual items, but very interesting if you waited for the people to clear. Then, as an added bonus, they happened to be having a showing of Amish quilts in another part of the museum.

That, of course, was the icing on the cake! It was a somewhat small exhibit, but definitely worth seeing since we were there anyway. I was surprised at how fancy some of the quilts were -- I'm used to seeing Amish quilts that are more plainly pieced. All in all, a very good day!

My quilting class starts tomorrow night, January 25, 2010, at 6:00 at the Veterans Building in Redwood City. I didn't get any sewing done this week, but I did do plenty of pattern-writing and printing. I should be all set for the start of class tomorrow. I can't wait to actually get to do some sewing of my own! So I have a pretty empty stash report again this week!

Fabric added this week: 0.00 yards

Fabric used this week: 0.00 yards

Fabric added this year: 2.50 yards

Fabric used this year: 5.75 yards

Total stash used this year: 3.25 yards

Stash Busting 2010 - Week 2

The winter session of the quilting class starts soon. The preview is tomorrow night, Monday, January 11, 2010 at 6:00 pm at the Redwood City Veterans Building. Anyone local and interested should stop by, see the new projects and pick up the supply lists. The nine-patch quilt along that I had been working on is finally complete except for the binding. It was quite a challenge to take a picture of a quilt that large. I tried putting it on my bed, but as you can see above, that posed its own problem. I keep forgetting who really runs this house! Anyhow, you can see it in person tomorrow night at the preview (without the cat).

As for stash-busting, I have nothing to report this week. I pieced the back of a small wall hanging, but I'll count that out when I put the layers together, which should be in the next week. So no fabric in or out this week. I'm holding steady!

Fabric added this week: 0 yards

Fabric used this week: 0 yards

Fabric added this year: 2.50 yards

Fabric used this year: 5.50 yards

Total stash used in 2010: 3.00 yards

Stash Busting - Week 38

Sorry I've been absent from the blog for so long! I've been on vacation and preparing for the new quilt class session. The only fabric added to stash in all this time was one yard I bought yesterday for the binding on a class sample. I haven't put it on yet, so I have to call it stash for the time being. I never counted out the fabric I used for two other class samples, so I get to count it out today!

In vacation news, I'll be posting about that soon. I'm still enjoying the last few hours of my vacation before going back to work tomorrow morning. Pictures and everything!

In class news, I'll also be posting about that soon. Pictures and everything! :)

Fabric in this week: 1.00 yard
Fabric out this week: 3.50 yards

Fabric in this year: 33.16 yards
Fabric out this year: 33.00 yards

Stash Busting 2009 - Week 27

Here's another report that's a week old already! Last week was the summer class session that I wasn't able to help teach due to work constraints. But because it was Thursday, Friday and Saturday, I was able to join the gang on Saturday and do a little sewing. The class is usually a mixture of students from the afternoon class and the evening class, so some people I only get to see once a year, and others I haven't seen in only a week or two. This session was held at a local quilt shop, and you can see some of their class samples hanging on the walls. I took some pictures of the ladies working. You can see my mom on the right and Erna Koch on the left working away in the first picture. Erna used to teach the class that I teach now.

And here's a few of the evening students working and chatting. Left to right is Karina, Susan, Joan and also Cece from the afternoon class.

I was finally able to get some sewing done today, even though I had a three day weekend. I put the borders on the quilt that I've been working on most recently, so the 1 1/3 yards I bought last week are now officially "out". No purchases this week!

Fabric in this week: 0.00 yards

Fabric out this week: 1.33 yards

Fabric in this year: 19.83 yards

Fabric out this year: 17.00 yards

Class Show & Tell

Here are some more pictures from the last quilting class a couple of weeks ago. First up is a quilt that was made by Laurie, a new recruit to the class. She brought this project, and boy was she organized! She had each block pre-cut and each packed into its own baggie with the corresponding pattern. The blocks are small (maybe 8" each??) and all different. Each block has a special meaning and they all relate to her life story. Her piecing was superb. There is a lot of detail in the blocks. I didn't compress the picture, so you should be able to click the picture to make it bigger.


Next is Irene showing her finished (except binding) Buzz Saw quilt that she made from the project that I presented last summer. Looks great!! Irene is on a UFO finishing binge!

Here's another top that Irene finished. I had presented this project last year, but some of the newer students hadn't seen it, so I brought it back as a bonus project and a few people made it. This one looks great - the medium color in each block is a ladybug print and she pulled all of the colors from that fabric. She is thinking of appliqueing some small ladybugs in the border. Can't wait to see how that turns out!

There were lots of great projects completed this time around but unfortuately I didn't get pictures of all of them. I need to remember to bring my camera to all of the classes and not just the last one!!

Stash Busting 2009 - Week 25

I've never really tried to add a lot of pictures to any of my posts, and it looks like I'm limited to a certain number. I'll add more pictures to the next post.

Last week was the final class for the spring sewing session that I teach. We're off for the summer now and it's always a little sad to know that we won't be seeing each other for a few months, but the last class is always fun with lots of show and tell and a pot luck. I have door prizes and we draw for quilt blocks that we have made. I think this was my best session yet -- a good time was had by all. Here are some pictures of quilts (mostly tops or "flimsys") that people brought to show. Below is Lori with a project that she put together from a pattern she got through a program at one of the local quilt shops. I can't remember the name of it, but it is just wonderful.


Next she showed her version of one of the quilts that I presented this session. I called it Novelty Boxes. Very fast and easy.


Oh dear, here she is again with another project that I presented this time around. String pieced green squares alternated with applique flowers. Very pretty!

Here's one of my new students, Tippy, basting a quilt to be hand quilted over the summer. She quilted years ago and is getting back into it. It's been a while - she had never seen a rotary cutter!!

Here's Susan's quilt that she made for a challenge that one of the local quilt shops was having last year. We had never seen the final product, so she brought it in to show us. Nicely done, Susan!

I have more pictures for the next post, too.

On the stash busting front, I did pull a piece of fabric out of my stash to use as the focus fabric for a quilt for class in the fall. Unfortunately I had to buy two pieces to go with it. I did get all of the blocks made, but not put together yet. I'll have to count it all out when it's done, which will be soon -- maybe next week???

Fabric in this week: 4.00 yards

Fabric out this week: 0.00 yards

Fabric in this year: 18.50 yards

Fabric out this year: 12.75 yards