Finished Tetris Quilt!

 I showed a few teaser pictures of the Tetris quilt, but here it is all finished!

 I added a little black/grey  border to the outside to make it look like the game :)

 Here is the recipient on Christmas morning!

 And here it is being used! this is my favorite kind of picture to see! I love it when the things I have made are being used :) That's why I make things! so people use them!! Thanks for getting me the pictures Hollie!!

Biggest dog bed!

 I said I would post pictures of the finished dog bed, and here it is!  With the puppy on it :)n It fit him quite well!! of course, it being fleece it slid all over the place..

 Here is another picture of the dog bed, but this time with a cat on it :) this is my parents cat Abby.  She was testing out the bed for Bo.

And since I am showing pictures of pets and beds I figuredi t was only fair to show off Sophie!.  She is laying in a fleece tye blanket I made for my sister on top of her Red white and blue quilt.

Christmas sewing!

I made this last year for my husband's grandma.  It's actually double sided.  The other side is a thanksgiving side.  I don't have a picture of that though.

And these are little ornaments I made for the ladies in my department.  I hope they like them!

I am working on my "roll roll cotton ball quilt" and cleaning up!  Because my sewing room got kind of messy!  I rearranged since I got my serger back, and I am quite happy about that :)

I hope you all have a good Christmas!

Biggest dog bed

When I asked about thR biggest sewn thing, I wasn't really thinking quilts…cause I have made some big ones!

The doggie bed is the biggest non quilt thing I have done.

Which I got done with tonight! I am quite happy with it. I think the kitties like it too. So I hope that transfers over to a puppy ;)

I am not posting pictures of the dog bed until after Christmas.

I also have another gift that made it safe, but again no pictures Til after Christmas :p

I have something small I want to do tomorrow. And hopefully I can get pics of that up.

Little sewing crazy. . .

 Last winter my serger broke.  I think I had been trying to sew through too many layers of fabric.  Or maybe it was just old and needed a tune up.  Well it FINALLY got it!! And I got it back on Friday, but I wasn't able to use it until today.  And use it I did!!

I made one all flannel cloth pad (I would have made more, but this had green, and my machine had green thread on it. (this lone pad will be going on etsy, but I thought I would let you know about it first.  If someone is interested in trying out cloth pads, let me know! I can make more! I have plenty cut!)

Then I made some "mixed" pads for me.  IE they aren't ALL flannel.  There is flannel on one side, PUL on the inside, and another fabric, well I can't remember the name of it right now, but I LOVE it in my cloth pads!!

And last but not least A BUNCH of cloth wipes! I only have 13 here, because like the flannel pad above, I had green thread on the machine, so I sewed everything that was green :) These all have flannel on one side, and varying fabrics on the other.  Terry cloth, sherpa and fleece.  (I am going to put this for sale on either etsy or ebay, so if you would like them, or know someone that would, let me know, I can make a deal :) )

I am almost done with the Tetris quilt, I just forgot to get a picture of it.  And I am still chugging away at my quiltville mystery quilt.

Now that my serger is fixed, I need to rearranged my sewing area so I can have both my machines up. . .I am not exactly sure how I will do this. . .but I am sure I will get it figured out :)

I hope y'all have a good week! and if you're up north (like me!) try not to freeze!

Biggest thing you have sewn?

 This is definitely one of the biggest things I have sewn!! I have also done a window seat cushion, which was longer, but not quite this wide :)

This is a dog bed for my sister's dog.  He is a German Shepard/Pyrenese Mix! So he is a big dog! They have had some problems finding a bed big enough for him.  So I decided to make him one!  Here he is!

And here is the bed for him.  It's 30" wide by 60" long.  It's almost to the ground if you can't tell.  Minnie was lots of help making this :) This isn't the final project.  Right now, I took a King Batting, folded it up, and then used some embroidery thread to keep it together.  Then I made a "case" for it.

I am going to make a cover for it.  But I am not going to share that picture until after he gets it!

And the next thing is the 8.5" strings I am working on for the quiltville mystery quilt.  I LOVE the way they look!! I want to make a HUGE string quilt now!!

 I have more that I am working on, but I wanted to get the main pillow done tonight.  And I haven't posted much lately! so I thought I would share this one little thing!!

BOM & Mystery quilt

 Block of the month and random sewing progresses. . .

Here is the block for December. . .I don't actually like it that much :p but I was able to use things other than my dotted fabric that I have no more of!

And here are all 5 blocks so far!

Here is what I have been working on. . .it's for the quiltville mystery quilt. . .I finished all the little 2" pieces! Those were annoying!! And now it's making a bunch (120!!) HSTs that are pink & brown.  I have about 50 :( And I am also working on these (pictured) blocks now.  They are 8.5" square, but they are done as string blocks, which is why it looks the way it does. . .I have to make 60 of them, so I think I am going to wait to trim them, while I watch a movie or something.  Because there is going to be a lot of them!!

I realized while doing these blocks (which are to be neutrals) I don't have many neutrals, whether it's white or cream. . .I am not sure why.  Maybe it's cause I like colors so much?

I am also done making all the rows for the Tetris Quilt.  I still need to find the perfect backing!

I am still working on my basket weave quilt, I just need to get it laid out.  Tomorrow I think will work well for that :)

I believe that is all from me.  I hope you are all having a good evening!

How many projects can I work on at once?

This one is a commissioned project.  For a friend.  It's actually something I have wanted to do for years, but I am a little OCD, so the design was what was stopping me. . .She gave me the design, so I can work around that!

I follow Bonnie (of Quiltville - the link is her blog), she has the best site! I love all the scrappy ideas she has!! Well right now she is hosting a mystery quilt along, and I thought I would participate.  good thing it doesn't matter who finishes first ;)  The first part is to make 172 2" strips that are pink/green/pink.  I have 16 ;) I have a lot to go.  I tried to use as much from scraps as possible, but I just don't have that much pink or green.

This is my "basket" weave quilt.  Well more squares.  I need to lay it out and see how many more I need to do, I should be getting close (I hope so!)

I am still working on triangles for my values quilt.  and I need to pull out my brown bag quilt and just FINISH it! although I have a few months til it's "due" so maybe something will hit me so that I can make it just a little bigger.

My sister's tee shirt quilt is coming along nice.  I have decided how I am going to do the sashing, I just need to get it put on ;) I just want to do it perfect! Cause heavens knows her first quilt was far from perfect (but she still loves it, so I am ok with that :) ).

I've still had no luck finding my background for my BOM :/ I even tried a Jo-Ann's in Indy.  So far I have looked in Minnesota, Wisconsin and three stores (plus I called three) in Indiana! Let's hope that Iowa has SOMETHING!

Exchange

I posted pictures of the quilt top I finished (the patriotic one) was an exchange. I finished that top and sent it back to it's owner.

And here is a picture of the quilt top I received. Let me say! She did an awesome with the fabrics I gave her!

I never would have done this, it's perfect! She did great with the kitty fabrics. I'm still just in awe of it!!

I can't wait to finish it up!

All caught up!!

 I am all caught up! This is November's block!

And here are all three blocks so far!  I was definitely iffy about the blue, but I really like it!!

I am quite frustrated though, I have gone to 4 Jo-Ann's, called 2 Jo-Ann's, and am not able to find anymore of my "light" the white with dots.  I even have the SKU # but since it's a clearance fabric they are being a little. . .hmm what's the most polite way to put this? They have not been the most cooperative with me.  We are going to Indianapolis, so I am going to beg my husband to take me to as many Jo-Ann's as possible praying that I can find it!

Well I have another project I am starting tonight!! I am quite excited!! not that I need another thing to work on :)

Block 2!

I have the second block finished!

 I am not 100% in love with it, the brown/white is a little light compared to the light, but I think when it's all done I will like it.

And when I made the middle square I had some left over, kind of like a snowball block. . .so I have a pinwheel, and we all know how I am obsessed with pinwheels ;)

Block of the month & new ironing board cover. . .

 I am sorry I haven't posted much, or been around much.  I think about posting, but then I haven't done much sewing, so what else could I post about?  The insane amounts of fabric I have bought at Jo-Ann's recently?  Which really has been a lot, but their clearance fabric was on sale, so it's 50% off the clearance price, so usually really cheap.  And this is the time that I normally get a little crazy about buying a bunch of fabric!

This is one fabric I bought.  It is actually a little bluer (see the next pic) but I just loved the pattern and the subtle gold in it!

I have had this ironing board (it's a mini one) since 2001 or 2002, when I was in college. . .It had the cutest blue bubble print on it, but the thing is, it was DIRTY! It was browning and fading, and just didn't look good. . .And I have been wanting to make a cover for it for a while. . .But I kind of cheated.  I just stapled it to the back instead of sewing a cover. . .But I definitely love it! I made sure when I took this pic I put my iron in it, I love that little Rowenta iron!! So much that after my cat broke mine, I bought the same (older) model that I already had, instead of their newer one. . .

As I said in my title, I am doing a block of the month.  I am doing it with a group of friends online. These are the fabrics I chose. . .The only problem is I don't have enough of the white with the dots of the brown with the flowers, and I can't go to the store I originally bought them at.  I am in Minnesota now (more on that later) and we stopped at a Jo-Ann's, but they didn't have it :( so if you happen to go into a Jo-Ann's and they do have it, and want to send me a 1/2 yard that would be AWESOME!  I hope we can check a Jo-Ann's or two on our way back home.  But first I shall check their website. . .and of course I don't have the SKU so I can't call Jo-Ann's to see if they have it. . .

And here is block 1.  I am actually a few blocks behind. . .this was started in August, so this is August's block, hopefully I can get the rest finished this week. . .

And those of you thinking didn't she already do a block along and NOT finish. . .Well kind of. . .I mean *my* top I made I haven't finished, but the one for my exchange I did :p so I think that evens out :) Maybe I will work on that next week!

So this doesn't really have to do with sewing, but I will tell you why I am in Minnesota this weekend. . .I have a very good friend that lives here, and there is a band that my husband and I really like, so we decided to come up for the weekend. . .And we were able to get two nights free hotel rooms!

So we'll be here this weekend, and then I will be able to sew a lot next week because it's the start of a new term at school so I won't have a lot of grading to do :)

Tee shirt quilt

 So I mentioned last night I mentioned my sister's tee shirt quilt. . .Here is what I have so far.  There are 22 squares, it feels like SO much more!  I think I am going to cut some more to make it enough for 16 on each side :)

 I do plan on adding sashing, but that will be a surprise, cause I don't want my sister to know yet!

This is the pile of scraps that I had when cutting the pieces down after ironing the interfacing on!

This thing will be massive, I hope a month and a half is enough time to finish it!

Away from da blog…

Sorry it's been awhile since I posted! I have been sewing…nothing finished yet (I have some WIPs I could probably pull out and finish 100%, along with 2 tops that need backs…)

I have been working on my "basket strings" quilt. I had about 80 4.5" squares, it was actually quite a big pile. I thought I had enough to make the top…not so much! So those will be leaders and Enders as I work on other things.

I got to hang out with Heather (retro-fabulous {I will link later when I'm on a computer}) and I were able to hang out and sew again. She gave me a cute idea for Christmas presents! And she is making the cutest ornaments!!

Let's see what else? My buddy Jan (sewsowinlove) and I chatted on the phone. It was nice to put a voice to a blog :) we discussed our brown bag quilts (among other things!) speaking of I need to just bite the bullet and finish it up.

The big thing I am working on is my sisters tee shirt quilt (from HS) she told me she wants a college one too eventually :) that girl sure has a lot of tee-shirts. Probably enough for the front and back to be ALL tee-shirts (with sashing).

Well that's what's going on in my sewing life. Sorry there aren't pictures. Nothing really NEW to share :/

Have a good night!

a finished (kind of) project!

 So I normally get to sew every weekend (if you haven't noticed the pattern!)  Well my friend Heather was having a "sew-in" on Saturday and invited me over.  So I jumped at the chance to get to hang out with a friend and sew!

I took my spools to work on, along with my strings, and some other things, but those were the two things I worked on.

Here are some of the strings, they are 4.5" squares.  I am not sure how many I have done.  Quite a few more than are in this picture though :)

Here are my spools all put together.  It's not 100% done.  But you can see the dark brown I put between the rows.

 And here is the close up of that brown looking blob. . .Can you tell what it's supposed to be?

It's a kitty.  It's tail ended up a little wider than I would have liked, but I had to add a kitty to my sewing room wall hanging!! Hopefully I will get it finished and can hang it up!

I haven't added the pinwheels yet.  But I have A LOT, so we'll see where they end up going

 These are my extra "spools" I think I am going to sew them up and put them for sale on etsy.  I don't need two wall hangings :)

And my last thing is that I am excited to have found my sisters stuff for her T-shirt quilt!  Not enough time to get it done by the time I see her, but I have it, and hopefully by Christmas!

I haven't given up on my wonky log cabins, or my values quilt.  I just really wanted to get
the spools done!!

A weekend sewing, what a surprise!

 Winding bobbins!

 Because they were all empty! (I took the picture after I filled one)

 Here are 5 full bobbins and an empty spool!  Since moving into our apartment I have gone through two spools!

 Here is my wonky stars quilt all done!! well not all done.  I think I am going to add a border to it.  Do you think the pink centers make it too girly?

And here are my wonky log cabins!! I am not sure how I am going to put them together yet. . .I might try to stick them together, but I think I am going to use a neutral border around them.

I also worked on my values quilt.  I have a lot of twosies that need to be put together!! And my top I posted a few months ago is a little bigger.  I am not sure if I will make that one much bigger.

What did you sew this weekend?

Strings strings so many strings!

 I have a lot of fabric, and I swear it's reproducing!! Especially my strings/crumbs.  So I posted on stashbuster (a yahoo group, it's GREAT! you should check it out!) asking about ideas for strings, which is something I have made before (ie my mini thread spools and my string quilt) but let me tell you, even after making those projects, my strings just keep on growing!!

 I got some good suggestions.  One of the ones that really spoke to me was doing a "wonky" log cabin.  I love log cabin after making my first one this year.  So I separated my strings out by color (again! why did I put them back in the box again?!)

And this is what I have so far!

And here are my spools! I have about three of each of them so far!

So that is what I am working on.  I have a lot of going on projects and nothing finished.  But hopefully I will get some finished either this weekend or next.  this weekend is iffy since my husband will be home this weekend :)

What do you do with your strings? Do you save them? do you pitch them?

WOW!! I've been a sewing fool!!!

I have been crazy sewing this weekend!! I went through THREE bobbins!! Well maybe not through, but I used 2 bobbins and had to pop in my third before I could finish up what I wanted to tonight!

Part of me is frustrated that I don't have more DONE since I spent so much time sewing.  But really I did get a lot done, just no projects FINISHED.  they are very close! And I will finish them up this week!

The first picture I have to show is from the fabric exchange I did.  (my first entry about it is here) You stuffed as much fabric as possible into a gallon size bag, send it to someone, then someone sends you fabric, you make a top with theirs and they make a top with yours and then you send the finished top to them.

I enjoyed making the quilt, the fabrics really came together well for a pinwheel sampler I think.  I wish I would have had a little more of the cream to be able to make it a little bit bigger.



So I got that sent off but I received some fabric! which I already showed you, but it's been cut up and sewn, but it's not all finished yet, so you get a mini teaser pic.  They are cut into 5" squares, I did have to add my own fabric, is the purple in the top left corner, the color's not perfect.  I need to charge my digital camera battery!

And the last thing is probably the thing I am MOST excited about!

I have been working on these "maverick" or wonky stars for a while and had NO clue what to do with them! (original pictures here)

 Because of the fall into fall give away, I found another blogger who did make a wonky stars quilt, and I loved how hers looked, not quite as scrappy, but very cool!  I commented on her post here) and she emailed me back, and I showed her mine, and she suggested I stagger them.  And this is what I got! it's kind of hard to see since they aren't all sewed together, but I used different sized sashings! I quite like it. . .I am not sure what I will do with it yet!

And here is a close up, you can kind of see the wonky-ness here! I was so excited to finally have something to do with this!

The other thing I worked on this weekend I was my Halloween quilt. . .except after sewing about 5 more blocks I cut them out backwards :( so I got a little discouraged with that. . .so maybe I will finish it next weekend. . .I think I am going to put that for sale when it's done.

I can't wait to see what you all have been working on!

Fall into Fall Give away!

I am going to share a giveaway that is happening!! I told about one last week, but this one is slightly different.

This is a giveaway of 140 some bloggers and 7 businesses!! pretty impressive!! All the giveaways start today.

The best thing is the variety of things that are being given away!  It's not just fat quarters or sewing things.  There are finished bags, gift certificates and more!!

You should definitely check it out!

For more information about which blogs are hosting give aways and such click here

Brown bags. . .

Well I shouldn't have JUST posted the contest entry.  I should have posted some of the stuff I have gotten done. . . But I blame it on being tired.  yeah I was tired ;)

What I have to tell you about tonight is the brown bag quilt contest.

There is more information about it here. (There is also a button on my side bar you can click) You sign up, send 2 yards of fabric to someone, they send 2 yards to you.  it's a great way to meet people and get out of your comfort zone!

I received my fabrics (and just got mine shipped! procrastinate much!) I received my fabric from Scrappy Pieces.

And here is the fabric I got:

It's going to be interesting putting this together, but these are not fabrics I would have picked out on my own!  I might have an idea of how to put them together. . . but we'll see!

I need to go to bed! I will talk to you all later!

AccuQuilt Go Cutter Giveaway - repost!

Milliesquilting is doing a give away for an accuQuilt go cutter, and I thought I would go ahead and give it a whirl!


It's pretty easy to enter.  You comment on the post.  You get one entry.  You are following her you get one entry and if you repost it, you get another entry!


So this is me posting an entry about this!!

X-Blocks

 So today I met up with Heather today and she took me to my first real quilt shop.  From the time I started sewing Jo-Ann's was where I usually bought fabric.  But I think I might explore a little bit.  Next weekend there is a shop hop, that I might do!

 The shop was Needle & Thread.  I liked it a lot!! Not only was the woman working very friendly, they had some of the cutest patterns!! But I was good.  And didn't buy fabric.

These are some finished projects that I saw and want to somehow reproduce myself!

 

Those are NOT pictures printed on fabric, there are little corners to hold the pictures in there!! I would LOVE to make some of those! Hello Christmas presents!

I want to know what pattern this is!

And these! I really liked them both.  And as I went shopping through I found out that they are actually made the same way!! And I did BUY something. . .

The template for X-blocks!  Now I know I technically could have probably done this on my own, but I think it will work a lot better with this!!  And this is where I show you a mini tutorial on how to make X-blocks (the pattern is called pocketful of posies I believe)

While at one shop I saw a very neat nine patch with Halloween fabrics, and I realized that I have Halloween blocks and I could make something similar to that.  And then I got home, and realized that I could use the Halloween fabric to make the X-blocks!

Now I cut my fabric into 3 1/4" squares, now this could also be done with strips.  But I had bought some little pieces of fabric at a shop 9"x14", so I wouldn't have been able to get much of a strip!

I was going to use a purple Hallowen fabrics for the inside square, and then I realized I had a solid purple I could use!! Thanks Kathy!!

So you sew your fabrics into a 9 patch (I will try to remember to explain how I laid out my squares and why these are in the order they are in)

Then you put the template on the nine patch and match the lines.  I was using the solid lines.

And this is what your finished block looks like!

You do end up with some left overs, but I think you'll see them again ;)

I only made 4 blocks.  I didn't run out of my off white, but I am going to need to get some more, and I didn't want the new to all be with new, so I couldn't make many more tonight.

Hopefully you can see the pinwheel in there.  When it's all done there will be a black pinwheel and orange pinwheel.

Now what to do with my first Halloween quilt?!

I hope you all have an awesome Sunday!