Friday Night Sew-In

For the sew-in tonight I am working on free motion quilting this little applique quilt.

Already started.

I was originally going to mark a pattern and make the feathers more formal. Laura from Periwinkle Art Quilts told me that it was easier to just "wing-it", so I took her advice. I did mark one line for the center of a feather and couldn't even manage to follow it!! I will try doing a marked design in the border because it is probably something I should learn to do.

I entered my Spanish Steps quilt in an online quilt contest at Quilting Gallery.

Please drop by and vote - I would really appreciate it! ♥ ♥ ♥

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day - maybe some time to join in the Friday Night Sew-in!! ♥

More Applique

Today I pieced a square that I will add some applique to.


All ready to stitch down.



I am using the freezer paper and invisible thread zig-zag method of applique. I am making a little quilt that I can practice some free motion quilting on. It will have a large border with lots of room for feathers - I hope! This block pattern is from Quilter's Newsletter Magazine, issue number 360, March 2004.

I noticed that Marlene over at Sipiweske Quilt Design has some more pictures of this weekends quilt show. Myra at Tactile Pleasures in Fabric has some great pictures too.

I was thrilled this weekend to get an email that my Spanish Steps quilt picture in now on Judy Martin's website! It is from the Scraps book.

Have a great day and thanks for dropping by!! ♥

First March Finish

Well, I can finally say that my "Spanish Steps" quilt is finished!! Labeled and everything. Whew!!

It is 91"x91", with wool batting, so still quite light. It will make a wonderful summer time quilt for my oldest child. The machine quilting turned out better than I thought it would when I was in the middle of quilting it. I am really pleased with it.

Have a great day!! ♥

Finished Machine Quilting!!

Today I was determined to finish machine quilting my LARGE "Spanish Steps" quilt. I spent all day at the machine, and it is finished!!! Yeah!!


I thought my machine was going to start smoking, it was working so hard! The binding is all sewn on too!! I just have to hand stitch the binding on the back.

I didn't even spend any time on the computer. Now it is time to catch up on the cyber world.

Have a great day!! ♥

Still Machine Quilting

My goal this week is to finish machine quilting the "Spanish Steps" quilt.


This is the biggest quilt (90"x90") that I have ever machine quilted (I have hand-quilted a couple this large and am currently working on another). If any one sees me starting another large quilt this year, please stop me!! It seems like I have been working on it forever! I can't wait to get my dining room table out of my kitchen too!

The beginning of the month is a great time to check out other people's blog, so many people put pictures of things that they or other people made last month. A couple are Polly, Peg, Sherri, and Joan, there are many more. I love seeing what other people are up to!


Hope it is beautiful where you are. Have a great day!! ♥

Party Update, Part 2

Help yourself to some chocolate! The party is going well!


Machine quilting is coming along. I got lots done during the Spring Sewing Party.



Thanks to Kelly and Joan for hosting it!! ♥

Off to sew the new Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Along blocks.

Have a great day and thanks for dropping in to the party!! ♥

Party Update, Part 1

The Spring Sewing Party is going well. I am working on the "Spanish Steps" quilt. I finally figured out the quilting pattern. I have been machine quilting for about 4 years, when I bought this free motion foot for my sewing machine.

Today I realized that I should use the yellow lines as a guide for machine quilting!! Always something new to learn!!

Just had time for a snack break and to check up on other party goers! Lots of great work being done out there!! Back to sewing and "watching" the Olympics!

Enjoy! See you later! ♥

Machine Quilting

Started quilting the "Spanish Steps" quilt. I think it is going to take me a while. Hopefully it will turn out alright!

Don't look too closely, still trying to figure out the pattern! I was doing it as I was "watching" the women's hockey at the Olympics. Canada won GOLD!!! Yeah!!!

Have a great day!! ♥

Pinning the Quilt

Today I cleared out my dining room and pinned the "Spanish Steps" quilt together. It barely fit in! I used my favorite wool batting.

I moved my dining room table into the kitchen. I use the old island counter top from my kitchen to machine quilt large quilts on. My husband cut out the end the same as my Plexiglas sewing table. There are little legs underneath. It works fantastically!!

Don't adjust your set, that is a pink counter top. When we moved in a couple of years ago there were pink counter tops, pink wall-to-wall carpets, pink and white linoleum!! Also the walls were painted a yellowish-brown colour that should only be seen in a new born baby's diaper!

I will start quilting tomorrow. I think I have figured out the quilt pattern.


The rabbits have been enjoying the frozen pumpkins.

Have a great day and thanks for dropping by!! ♥

Finished Sewing on the Borders

I finally finished last weeks focus (sewing the borders on the "Spanish Steps" quilt) today. Technically it is a holiday today (Louis Riel Day in Manitoba), and so it is still the week-end for me, which is when I like to have the weeks focus finished. So, for me, I finished it on time!

I will put it away for this week. I have to piece together some leftover fabrics that I will use for the backing. Next week I hope to start machine quilting it. Still have to decide what I am going to do. Waiting for inspiration!!

This week I am going to focus on finishing my Olympic Challenge project, so that I can have it ready to machine quilt for the Friday Night Sew In on the 19th.

Today was a beautiful day, and so we played outside for a while in the bright sunshine.

The view from our backyard.

Have a great day! ♥

Still Sewing Squares

Finished cutting out all the squares for the "Spanish Steps" borders. I have been busy sewing them together. All the 3 square units are pieced.

Now I am sewing the pieced units together. I laid them all out first to make sure that the colours were evenly spaced. It should go pretty quickly now, so that I will be on track to finish the borders this week.


There was a lot of activity at the bird feeder today. A flock of partridges came. At first there was just a pair, the rest of the flock was pacing along the other side of the neighbor's fence.


The rabbit just watched.


Later the whole flock came and joined them. Before dark I noticed that the partridges were all huddled down under the trampoline in the back.

Have a great day! ♥

Red is my Favorite Colour

I have been sewing squares for the last two borders. That pile is only one border worth of squares!


I thought I had cut enough, but I ran out of red squares.

Luckily I had a bit more. Red is my favorite colour (even my glasses are red). I love this fabric (the one with dragonflies) by Kona Bay, I bought it last summer in Oregon, wish I had bought more.

Have a colour filled day! ♥

Bigger Borders

Initially I was going to put on only two rows of squares on the "Spanish Steps" quilt because the wool batting I bought was only supposed to be 90" wide. After I sewed on the first two borders, I measured the quilt against the batting. It turns out the batting is 100" wide, and I have lots of room to add the three rows the pattern calls for. I think it will look much better.


My focus this week will be to finish adding the borders on the other two sides. 216 squares to sew.
Scrap quilts are great! I have been quilting for almost twenty years (since I was pregnant with my oldest child), and it is nice to be able to include fabric from lots of the quilts I have made over the years. A real memory quilt.
Have a great day!

One Border On!

Still working on the "Spanish Steps" quilt. Attached the first pieced border, three to go. I have already pieced the second one.

This is only the second time I have made a large quilt using a pattern. The first one was last year when I made a quilt from a kit. Usually I just make things up as I go. I have never tried a pieced border like this and it amazes me that it is the right size! It worked perfectly! It is always my fear that my cutting or piecing is slightly off and things won't match. I think that is why I put this off for a while.

My youngest came home with this little table this week, been working on it at school since September.

It is proving quite useful beside my sewing table.

Thanks D.

I put food out for the rabbits. I know they can survive on their own, but it's so cold and they are so tiny!

Have a great day!

Finished First Border

I finished sewing the beige borders on the "Spanish Steps" quilt.

Now the blocks will look like they are floating on the beige background.
I would normally photograph this on my design floor, but it looks like this -

Someone (not me) has some Lego to pick up.

I am still sewing the 3" blocks together. I need 136 altogether.


I also finished the hand stitching on the surprise. I just have to sew it together.

Buttons

I was searching through some of my buttons looking for just the right buttons for the surprise!

I think mother -of-pearl buttons are amazing!

This weeks focus is coming along, lots of 3" squares to sew together.


I noticed last week at Abyquilt that she mentioned the "blue hour". I had never heard that expression before, but this morning I noticed this -

It truly was blue!

I hope it is beautiful where you are! Have a great day.

This Week's Focus

My focus for this week is finishing off the borders for my "Spanish Steps" quilt.


These are all the blocks (hopefully I have enough) that are going to make up the border. There was supposed to be three rows of blocks but I am only going to do two rows because the wool batting I bought is only 90" wide.

I will also be working on my surprise!

I have joined the Friday Night Sew-In, the next one is February 19th, it should be lots of fun! I also joined the Postage Stamp Quilt Along. I think it will be a good way to use some smaller pieces of fabric I have. We will be using 1 1/2"x21" strips of fabric for this quilt along.

It has now been one month since I started this blog, and it has been an absolute blast! I have met some wonderful people and had such positive feed back. The blogging community is such a supportive community and I can't thank everyone enough!

Have a great day and thank-you for stopping by!

Another Finish

I am so pleased to say that I have finished sewing together the blocks of my "Spanish Steps".



I just have the borders to add. I have put it away for a couple of weeks so that I can concentrate on other projects. Two weeks of working on one thing is enough for me.

Today I also finished a pincushion. I have been wanting a small, heavy pincushion for a while, and this is what I came up with.

A flower pincushion. I used the plastic center from pearl cotton, covered it and filled it with BBs. I also put a little rubber pad at the bottom to stop it from sliding. It works really well. It fits on my sewing machine and doesn't move when I stick a pin in it.

Sewing Rows

All the blocks have been sewn into rows and I am sewing the rows together. It is coming along beautifully. An easy quilt to make.



I love the shadow effect. A few people have asked about the pattern. It is from Judy Martin's book "Scraps".



There are two other shadow quilts in the book.




Here is a link to viewer photos on Judy Martin's website, you can also check out her sewing room in the "Meet Judy" section. Amazing!


We are having unusually warm temperatures here, and the birds were going crazy in the feeder, must be all the seeds coming out of the melting snow. I hope it is beautiful were you are.

Blocks Finished

Today was a wonderful home day. I finished sewing all the blocks for the "Spanish Steps" quilt and even started sewing the blocks together. Here it is on my "design floor".



Wendy over at Inky Threads asked people to show her their stash/quilting areas. I have my sewing machine in the kitchen, where most people might have a kitchen table! I am supposed to have my sewing area in the basement, but it is a catch-all room, of toys, exercise equipment, drums etc. I much prefer to sew upstairs in the light and with everyone.


Since my sewing room is in the main part of the house, I have to keep it limited and neat. The sewing table is my grandmother's old sewing machine cabinet. I keep a few fabrics in the bins beside it, mostly up-coming projects and things for inspiration. I keep my cutting mat under the couch and cut on the island in the kitchen. I also have room to set up the ironing board when I need it. I lay out quilts on the "design floor" in the family room. I have been much more productive since I moved upstairs, this works out well, and my family is used to working around it. I still have a few bins and sewing things in the basement.



Looks a bit messier now, I am organized to sew the blocks together, should be done soon.