Welcome back quilt

I am making this quilt for someone who is going through a difficult period in their lives. A period of self discovery that does not seem to be going so well. This person does have a lot of people that are willing to help them but I wanted to let them know how much I love them and that they will be welcome to return home. Here are the smaller starter blocks.

Which became a larger blocks that looks like this one.

Here is the finished top.

I plan on starting the quilting process this weekend. My original plan was to start last weekend but I am having some stitch tension issues with my sewing machine. :(

Ok...Ok

Well its bit quite awhile since my last post but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. Lets see...I finished the ornament mini quilt:

Created some row/block markers, to keep things straight when doing larger projects:

And make a Queen sized body pillow for our bed. I made a pillow case for it as well, but here is the pillow itself made with red ticking:

There are a few other things that I have started and I will show those in a later post.

Not quite done

Didn't quite finish the ornament wall quilt over the weekend. With any luck I'll shoot for this weekend. Here is how far I did get though...

The appliques were sewn together in rows that look like this.

Then the rows were sewn together, seams pressed open, which became the basic top. It takes a little more time to press your seams open but I love the way the tops lays flat.

I then made some smaller ornaments and added those to the top which came out to look like this.

I could just leave the top as is or add small templates to the outer edges, but I'm not sure which one I will do. I keep walking in and out of my sewing room, looking at the top on my design wall, waiting for it to 'speak' to me. I'm pretty sure that I will be on my own making this decision, though.

Ornament Wall Quilt

Ok, back to my quilting drawing board. It s been a minute (a very long one) but I was able to get back in my sewing room for awhile (man I missed it). Here is the start of my new project starts with this template:

Using these fabrics and a few others:

They turn into appliques that look like this one:

My aim of course is to complete the quilt this weekend. We'll see. Wish me luck!

A little something

I starting back on a small scale and made this little diddy for my husband. A cell phone charger basket.

It is big enough both of our cell phones to fit comfortably. The next one I make I will use a heavier stabilizer. The basket holds its shape but I would like it be a little sturdier.

A little antsy!

It has been over a month since my last post. Between family commitments and a sewing room rearrange I haven't really touched my new machine but to repair a pair of pants for my husband.Suffered a little withdrawal and a bit of anxiety; feeling 'I need to quilt so I can blog about it'. Sounds a little obsessive, doesn't it? Anyone else ever suffer from this? Just wondering. Well  most of the last couple of weeks I've been with extended family. There was the Native American Pow-Wow in North Carolina. Here are a few pics from the Grand Entrance.

Then a couple of weekend ago we attended my cousin's wedding and the remodeled Oxon Hill Manor. It was a beautiful sunny day and here a few random pictures of the manor itself. The front...

the side...

and the back.

Unfortunately since my work and its commute keep me out of the house for about 13 to 14 hours a day, I don't really get a chance to get back to my quilting until the weekends. Since most of the rearranging of my house and sewing room is nearly complete I should be able to get back to sewing this weekend...yaaaaaayyy!

Lessons Learned

Well...a new pattern and a new machine do not necessarily make a good combination, I'm sad to say. Hubby bought me a new sewing machine a few weeks ago. It has way more bells and whistles than my old one and I was so excited to use it. I should have practiced on my new machine for a while longer than I did because my plaid mini top did not turn out any where near like I wanted it to. I am almost ashamed to post the pic, but here it is...

Since I took the process pledge, I did promise to show the work, both good and bad and by the looks of this picture I need more practice with my new machine. Well its back to the drawing board for me and I will come back to this pattern later.

Plaid Anyone?

I found a really cool plaid pattern that I fell in love with. Here are the strips that I am using for it.

And here is a test block.

The block didn't quite turn out as accurate as I would have liked, so I am going to do a few more and turn them into...you guessed it...a mini.

Hubby's Lap Quilt

Finally done. I gave hubby his lap quilt yesterday. He just loved it. In fact he loved it so much now he says he may want to use it as a wall quilt. Well...so long as he uses it, I guess. Here it is, both front and back.

Manly colors, don't you think. No where near the colors I would have chose for my self, but its a guy thing This whole quilt was very impromptu. I had no idea where I was going to go with making this quilt for him. All I had in the beginning was the symbol as you can see from my previous post.Once I came up with the idea for the front and finished it, I said to myself 'OK, what are you going to do for the back?'. As you can see, I pieced it. I actually kind of like the idea of a pieced back. It gives you more of an idea to play with how the back will look (that is, if the back will be shown).

Lap Quilt

I have made things for others in my family, sometimes a couple of times over but so far I haven't made one for hubby yet. I started a big one for him some time ago but it became such a huge undertaking that it became an UFO (in quilting terms, its an 'unfinished object'). Well that seemed a little unfair since he has indulged my obsession with fabric and pretty much anything quilting, without too much fuss, so I am in the process of making him a (a much smaller and more manageable) lap quilt. Here is a part of the center panel...

Its a symbol that means 'Except for God'. A symbol of the omnipotence and immortality of God.

Forgotten Post

Well I guess better late than never! I forgot to post the last two Christmas gifts I made. Life can be a little distracting at times, don't you think :)? They were both bed runners. Here is the one I made for my mother along with the back.

 

The back is laying on my cutting table long-ways and half folded over. And this is the one I made for my sister and her husband with its back.

Argyle - Done!

Ok it took me way too long to post this. I had finished this mini two weekends ago. I actually became enamored with the argyle pattern earlier this year (like that was so long ago) and decided to see if I could create one of my own. Here is the end result...

Its very shadow-y so I will have to post a better picture soon. I used gray thread to quilt the top, thinking that white might be a little too much and as I look at it more and more I think I should have gone with the white instead. Oh well...you live and learn.

Argyle

Here is my rendition of and Argyle mini. There are a few others I have seen that inspired this one. This is only the top at the moment. I will be quilting it this weekend.

Delivery No. 1

Finally got a chance to deliver one of my three Christmas gifts (at least I got it there before the end of January). Here it is in the WIP stage...

It is a table runner. This is the finished product. I added a few coasters to go along with it.

Unfortunate Loss

We lost a beloved friend and family member this past Friday, January 14, 2011. Her name was Daisy...

This is a picture of her in her younger days. She had been a part of our family for almost 7 years. We adopted her from the Virginia Westie Rescue in 2004. She was 4 years old when we adopted her. She was taking a whole host of medication when we first adopted her for various illnesses. Fortunately for her and for us, most of her illnesses seemed to melt away once she understood that we loved and would take care of her. It turned out that all she really needed was the love and security of a good family. She was a very patient, caring and loving animal and she will be missed very much. God bless you Daisy girl!