ALYOF January 2014 Finished

These two wool felt blocks were what I challenged myself to get done in January.

These friendship star blocks were part of what was in Quiltmaker's January/ February 2014 issue for their Love Blooms Here Quilt I am making this year.

I am glad I have kept up and I can't wait for the next issue and instructions to arrive!

Charity Sewing & Winner

Hard to believe the weekend is over! I don't feel like I accomplished that much. I did enjoy lots of new visitors from the Grow Your Blog event and I found some new blogs to keep track of, but I did not get as much sewing in as I hoped. I did finish an incredible book, Me Before You by Jojo Moyes and cried my eyes out.

 

During the Christmas season, someone's blog (I apologize, I don't remember who) shared a couple of adorable lunch boxes she made for coworkers. I made note of it because I am always looking for new bags to create. One of the charter schools in my town has an annual bag silent auction and I usually donate a bag. The bag designer, Ayumi, has a great tutorial, you can find here: http://ayumills.blogspot.com/2010/08/tutorial-lunch-bag.html

I picked up outdoor fabric at Joann's because I thought it would be sturdy and not need interfacing. I bought a 1/2 yard of the purple fabric and a 1/2 yard of the lime green chevron fabric. I had the black dot in my stash and I did buy the cording (I am going to change it for a more delicate kind). I spent $8 and can make another bag with what I have left. I might pick up a bento box and water bottle to put in it. I think I might make another couple of these bags with vinyl fabric for the lining, so they will be easier to wipe out. I am really pleased with the result and the fact that it went together quickly. I will definitely make at least two to donate and one for me!

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!!!! Look what I won from mybrownbagstudio.com and Green Fairy Quilts. This Sewing Box jelly roll is precious. It is bright and happy...Now, I need the perfect project!

I also worked on a sewing machine cover/mat for my Singer Featherweight. I am using Lori Holt's pattern from Quilty Fun and I got all the triangle/hourglass blocks done. I still need to work on the spools and get a gray fabric. My embroidered pink elephants are also waiting for me to put them into a baby quilt, I need to go to the store and buy some pink and gray yardage, but going to the quilt shop is dangerous for my budget!!! I do need to get going on my elephant baby quilt if I am going to hand quilt it. I have too many projects going and need to finish some more up this week. My job really interferes with my quilting... What are you up to?

Grow Your Blog & Giveaway

Greetings! My name is Tanya and I have been quilting for nearly 20 years. My blog is dedicated to quilting. I only started blogging last June and have really become inspired by other quilting blogs. Since I have quilted for so long, I have tried lots of different techniques and my tastes have certainly evolved.

I confess that I have not finished my first quilt. It is a UFO (gasp, a quilter with a UFO, shocking!) and can be found in a tub in my garage. Every time I look at it, I am horrified by my terrible piecing skills, the atrocious colors, and my ridiculous attempt at beginning to hand quilt it...I fear it is destined to always be a UFO!

I like country and primitive quilts. The big, chunky stitches of quilting and embroidering with perle cotton and delicious wool felt are my favorite things to do as far as handwork. Handwork is definitely my therapy! This is a primitive flower quilt. I used wool felt and appliqued it onto flannel using perle cotton.

Lately, I have become restless with country and primitive quilts which was kind of what drove me to the quilting blog world. I found Lori Holt's blog beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com in June and immediately started her row along project. I made this in a couple of weeks, but have yet to finish it because I can't make a decision about the borders. Do these kinds of dilemmas stump anyone else besides me? And then these same uncertainties prevent you from finishing a project....

I find myself drawn to more modern quilts and fabrics. I like the bright colors and how the gorgeous fabric is the predominate feature in the quilt.

To celebrate this Grow Your blog event, I am offering this kit that has been in my stash for too many years to count. I have enough Christmas quilts for my home and classroom, I want to pass it on to someone who will make it! It is 22"x 22" and includes the fabrics, batting, buttons, and embroidery floss. You do not need to follow my blog to enter (I am not even sure how to arrange all the followers stuff), if you could just leave me a comment telling me what your favorite type of quilting is. I will draw for a winner on February 15th and will figure out how to ship it anywhere...Good luck and I can't wait to meet some new, talented bloggers!

Perpetual Calendar - Slow Stitching

Has anyone else out there in blog land seen the free perpetual calendar pattern from Crabapple Hill Studios? They posted the final directions and this is going to be my next Slow Stitching embroidery project! I should finish up my last elephant tonight and get the calendar embroideries traced tomorrow night. Here is a link to directions for the calendar http://www.crabapplehillstudio.com/other-stuff/downloadables/how-time-flies-bom.html

I will be posting tomorrow night as part of the Grow Your Blog party/link up and I am going to host my first giveaway, so check back to see what I am sending out to a lucky quilter!

Owl Baby Quilt Finish

So I made one of these quilts a couple of years ago, right after I had gotten my new sewing machine that has a cute buttonhole stitch for appliqueing. My friend loves owls and had a mural of a giant tree with owls in it painted in the nursery, so I thought the design was perfect.

One of my friend's relatives saw the quilt at her baby shower and contacted me begging for me to make her one. Now that my machine appliqueing skills are better and since I forgot to take pictures of the original, I agreed to make one for a pretty decent sum! Plus, I could justify buying some bright fat quarters to make it. I quilted it on the LAM and it was good practice. Aren't those owls adorable?

I plan on making the most of my day off work today!

Scrap Sewing & Slow Stitching

These are my last two January/February BOM blocks for the Love Blooms Here Quilt. I can't wait for the next issue of Quiltmaker to make some more wool felt blocks! I love creating a whole quilt from my stash of scraps.

This is Block 1 for this year's joinedatthehip sampler quilt. I am making mine with modern fabrics (chocolate, aqua, lime green, tomato red, and yellow) and plan on setting it vertically, so it will fit better in my sewing room.

And block 2...It is so much more pleasant making scrap quilts now that I have my scraps organized by color in bins under my cutting table!

Block 3 and the quilt they will be part of is below. The 6 inch blocks are a little more difficult that 12 inch ones!  I really plan on challenging myself and only using fabrics I already have.

For my slow stitching during today's championship games, I will be embroidering adorable pink elephants with perle cotton. I need 12 for a baby quilt I am making. I have 5 done. They will finish 6 inches and be set between gray and pink nine patches. Hopefully, I can piece that next weekend!

I have tomorrow off from work, so I hope to make the most of my time in my sewing room!

Ice Cream Cone Quilt Finish

This is my UFO project for Country Threads monthly drawing. This was number 10 for January. It is a Buggy Barn design that was modified to be smaller. I started it in the summer of 2012 when I took a Buggy Barn class.

I had planned on practicing with the long arm and quilting it this past summer, but that never happened.

I tried to quilt swirls in the ice cream scoops themselves. The rest of the quilt is in loops. I barely had enough of the multicolor stripe for the binding.

The raspberry back was one of my last purchases from one of my favorite quilt shops before it closed, but I love how it pulls the whole thing together.

Of course my swirls were the best on the last two blocks! I am never going to get better on the long arm unless I practice, even though it scares me silly. I make my students persevere, so I better too! I hope to get some more projects done on the long arm soon...

WIP & a Finish

So I got this magazine for Xmas and I have really wanted to make Lori Holt's house block. I also am on a mission to make door banners for each month...

I used the shamrock and letters from this book and combined it with Lori Holt's house and came up with this door banner for March! I think it is so cute!

I will be hand quilting and binding it with perle cotton over the next few days. I think there might need to be some button embellishments too. I also have a co-worker that is expecting an April Fool's Day baby. I inquired about the nursery and it is pink, gray, and white with elephants. Sounds like fun, I already have a quick design sketched up, so stay tuned!

My focus this year is supposed to be doing one Xmas thing every month and finishing UFOs and this quilt I completed accomplishes both goals...What are you up to?

Slow Stitching Football Playoffs

Does anyone else out there worry about running out of handwork when you have plans to park your behind in front of the TV? I am always fearing that I will run out of handwork which seems impossible. I traced and started embroidering another Christmas BOM I inherited from my sister. I also discovered another Christmas UFO that is a small wall hanging. I quilted it with perle cotton and now need to head into my sewing room to find a binding and hanger for it. The Broncos just won, so we will be awaiting the Bronco vs. Patriot game next weekend where more Slow Stitching Sunday is sure to happen.

This is the 2014 BOM from joinedatthehip blog. I did their sampler last year and had fun making it entirely from my stash. I signed up for this one today, but I am not sure about colors. I would rather make it more scrappy and not just use large amounts of fabric as they suggest. I think I would like more modern colors instead of the country colors...Can some of you out there in blog land please give me some advice? Thank you!

Friday Night With Friends January

I have never participated in FNWF, but I usually sew most Friday nights, so why not?

I hand stitched this whole wool felt block with perle cotton.

And I finished the embroidery of the stems with on this one.

I fell in love with this new BOM that is featured in Quiltmaker magazine this year. Both of these blocks will be in my own version. How did you spend your Friday night? Link here to check out others http://www.stitchingcubbyhole.blogspot.com/2014/01/fnwf.html

January Door Banner

I finally got this magnetic curtain rod for my front door a few months ago and it has been perfect. I used to use a wreath hook, but it would always bang against the door and make annoying noise. Now I want a door banner for every holiday/theme. This was a quick kit that I inherited from my sister. I tried to tone it down so it was not totally Xmas--leaving off the holly and the cardinal and changing it to say "let it snow." Now I need to figure out which holidays I am set for and which I need to start creating....

Slow Stitching Sunday Playoffs

 This is my last Season quilt. I inherited these BOM kits from my sister in April 2013. The pattern called for it to be a large quilt, but I had made my own set as a quilt for each season. I pieced it, quilted it, and bound it in less than 1 week.

The embroidery is with perle cotton and so is the primitive quilting.

Today for Slow Stitching Sunday during the playoff games, I am quilting this little door banner I started on a whim the other day. I should get it finished today and hanging on my door. I hope it does not look too Christmasy and is ok for January decorating. This was also a little kit that my sister gave me when she gave up quilting!

I am back to work tomorrow, but have been fairly productive with my two weeks off. I will get some more finishes posted soon!

Christmas Quilting Loot

Is it just me or do you love baskets and bags too? Several months ago, my daughter and I were in the Vitamin Cottage/Natural Food Grocers and I stopped to admire the lovely woven African baskets. I already had a circular one that was a gift from a friend years ago, but I mentioned how much I like the oval shape. Well, my disinterested teen was listening and purchased me one as a Christmas present. It will definitely be my go to quilting basket.

It has lots of interior room, but is not bulky. Looks like the perfect survival bag to me!

Really the only person who gives me quilting supplies is my mom. Every now and then hubby will deliver a gift card, but he does not buy me any specifics. Mom and dad gave me this lovely quilt kit featuring a Marmalade layer cake from Bonnie and Camille and Bonnie's pattern, "Star Blossoms."

I am going to try to restrain myself and not start this quilt until I get some of my UFOs completed! This will take a great deal of determination!

My mom and dad also gave me this portable OttLite. I had never thought of getting one, but now that I have one and am using it I wonder how I did so much hand work without it!

My parents also gave me the Pattern Basket's "Strawberry Social" pattern and a kit to make it. Mom and I have been admiring this quilt since it came out over the summer. Again, I vow to save it until I get some other projects done!

I got some lovely other gifts for Christmas too, but the quilting ones are my favorites!

Goodbye 2013 & Hello 2014!

My main quilting goal for 2014 is to finish up my many UFO's!!!I am even considering entering a couple of the UFO challenges here in blog land.

Well the good news is that I finished this adorable ABC Boy version quilt before 2013 ended! I promised myself, I would not start the girl version until this one was done, which means I can start tracing the girl embroideries whenever I want now! I know I can make the girl quilt completely from my stash just as I did with the boy quilt.

I also pieced the last season quilt I inherited from my sister. It has also been pinned and I am hand quilting it with perle cotton and chunky stitches. This time of year, I love hand quilting! I think it is because it is cold outside and I spend a lot of time inside curled up on the couch.

I made this last night. It took like 30 minutes and will be even faster next time, now that I know what I am doing! This pouch was so quick and cute! This is the tutorial I used http://modernquiltlove.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/perfect-box-pouch-tutorial/ It is rather tiny and I think I will make a bigger version as a little sewing kit, but I know what I am making for little Christmas gifties next year for my friends and coworkers. All I would need to add is some chocolate, lip balm, or hand cream and they would be precious little gifties. I will stock up on zippers from Joann's throughout the year! It will be much cheaper and more personal than the travel mugs and candles I bought this year...

So, I was looking through the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks magazine I got in my Christmas stocking last night and came across this "Love Blooms Here" quilt pattern they are featuring. They show it in this version with flannel and wool felt, batiks, or redwork. I know I can make it completely from my stash of wool felt. Plus, I have been itching to get back to working with wool felt, so I am heading to the store to buy the Quiltmaker January/February 2014 magazine and will subscribe to the magazine for the rest of the patterns. I know this is not a UFO, but if I can make it completely from materials on hand, and I am ok with that! My goal for January is to make the two wool felt applique blocks.

I am also excited to see the Country Threads new BOM for 2014 and likely will start that as a stash buster project. I vow to keep track of my finishes this year on this blog, so hopefully I can look back on what I complete and be satisfied. What are your quilting goals for the new year?