Bowties

I have been following Bonnie Hunter since I got a blog.  I have used a few of her patterns, or tweaked them to make them my own.  I semi follow her scrap system (I don't have enough space to do more than I have now).  Bonnie talks about using "leaders and enders" which is actually something I saw on Fons and Porter, basically you always have something on your machine, you don't sew off the item, you keep adding something.  I like it because it saves on thread.

Well Bonnie talked about using bow tie blocks as leaders and enders (here). I didn't see it until the fall of this year though (here) and I decided that I wanted to make one!  So I have started one.  Of course I am not in love with cheddar like Bonnie is, but I do love purple, so I chose to use a solid purple.

I do not have pictures yet, because school has been crazy, and I have been trying to get presents for Christmas done (the ones that aren't being sewn.)

Stocking test run

I had a friend who asked me to make stockings for her family, I also wanted to make some for my husband and I.  so I decided to use some scraps around the house to make up a mock one, just to decide how I was going to put it together, and this is what I came up with:

I tweaked the shape a little bit for my next one.  But I am excited to make them for my husband and myself! His shall have colts fabric, and mine shall have lots of purple. 

I think the only thing I would do differently from this one, is to try a French seam on it, because I had to do a seam on the outside just to make sure it would stay together (the inside wouldn't "come out").

Long arm part 2

I got three things finished on the long arm this week. One I already showed. So this is the second.

This actually started as a way for me to practice a table runner. So I basically sewed three table runners together :p

I just did a meander on it.  I love meandering!

Here you can see what the back looks like.  It doesn't necessarily match but it's pretty!

Long arm quilting

Well my UFO list is getting smaller, but my to bind quilt is getting longer!

I made this quilt in 2010, I used all fabric from my stash.

Sitting on the long arm

So I rented the long arm from Needle & thread last night. I needed to finish up a Christmas present and then also to get some UFOs finished!

I finished the Christmas present, and I was able to start another one.But closing time was near and since I'm renting the machine again Saturday they said I could leave it there.

So here's my quilt waiting to be finished!

Block sent

Agnes said she wanted a patchwork block. I asked if she had a preference, she suggested the following:

She asked for some of the following colors: Cream, brown, gold, red, green, any old fashioned/ civil war reproduction type fabrics.

I hope you enjoy it Agnes!

Two color quilt block 11 & 12

I believe this one is called a double "z" block.  I like the way the colors against the white look.

This one is a bunch of hour glass blocks.  I think I might have liked it more if I would have made the colored fabric the background color. 

Block swap adventure

This is my December block for Kim.  This block is called garden patch block. I tried to do it without paper piecing (or using a template) but I couldn't do it. It's a pretty block though!

 I hope you enjoy it Kim!

Missing fabric update

Well I was unable to find the fabric I needed. No one I knew had any, and one employee at Joann's told me she remembered it going on clearance, which means I'm out of luck :(

I did find this one fabric at wal-mart, that I'd thought about using in the border. (You can see the shades are similar, but the wal-mart print was definitely more green.

But I think I've found a layout that shall work. And once it's done I'll share it with you all :)

Sewing tonight…this weekend!

I'm excited I'm spending most of the weekend sewing. I need to get things ready for the long arm next week!! Hopefully I can get rid of three or four UFOs!

Watching old episodes of law & order. Enjoying myself too much to head to bed right now!!

Two fabric quilt block 9 & 10

This block is a bunch of bow tie blocks put together! I love it!  It almost looks like a bunch of circles!

This one I believe is called an amish square.  Or that is one name I found online. 

On the search for fabric. . .

Hello! I have been posting about my two fabric quilt on Thursdays, well the darker fabric I picked, I ran out of, and even after being to 5 Jo-Ann stores, I cannot find it ANYWHERE!!

So I was wondering if a) anyone else has happened to see it at a Jo-Ann's and could get me the SKU b) anyone has some at their home they would be willing to sell me?

I was hoping to finish this quilt by Christmas, but I am not sure what I will do now that I have run out of a key fabric (I really thought I had enough!)

Here is a picture of the fabric.  It's brown with green and blue dots/circles.  This was NOT a clearance fabric.  I bought it off their calico wall.

(I don't even have enough fabric at home to take a picture of just the fabric!)

Thank you SO much!

Long arm part 4

 This is going to be my last post about my long arm practice quilt. 

Bonnie hunter did a quilt with spider webs, so I thought I would try one! it's a toughie (hers was a pantograph)

 Here is some hearts I did along with some fill I practiced.

These last three are my favorites.  I didn't have a pattern for this one, but I did end up seeing it online other places, but I love the swirl and the flower!

Free fabric

I love fabric. I'm betting most people that sew do! A family friend was downsizing their fabric stash and offered it to me! Of course I said yes!

There is a wide variety of fabrics here! Cottons, fleece, velveteen, polyester, etc. it's fun going through it and trying to decide what I'm going to do with it! But I can guarantee these will be seen again!

I have already cut some of it up.  But I am not going to tell you what for - just yet :)

long arm part 3

Here is part 3 of my long arming adventures!  I really enjoyed just playing and getting to know the machine.

I really want to be able to do flowers well!! so I will keep trying them!

Here you can see the bumps I did, and the fill-ins I tried.  Then below I tried some loops, again the motion of the machine gives me issues.

I kind of like these hearts :)

Trying more loops.  they ended up more like hearts because when I would go through and to they I would over compensate!

Long arm part 2

Here is part 2 of my long arming.  (This was a BIG quilt!)



Here you can see some pebbling I did.  I thought that was kind of boring.  I have also found I do not like heavy quilting.  Pebbling was too close for me.  Then next to it is a flower I tried to do, I found it online, and LOVED it! but I couldn't get it to look as pretty as the others I had found.  Again I think once I get used to the feel of the machine it will be easier.

Here I practiced some writing, Melissa loves Scott (Although I didn't go back and dot my i).

Here is some more writing I did.  Along with trying to draw a flower.  I LOVE all the flowers I see, but I am not that good at them!  Then You can also see some swirls/snails I did.

Here I just did some x's and practiced more swirls/snails.

Two fabric quilt block 7 & 8

While I was in the DC area I got quite a bit of sewing done.  It's tough to sew when you travel, because you never know how much to bring.  I ended up being just a little short, but I still got quite a bit done!

 Churn dash.  I enjoyed making this block.  I think it would make a great ispy quilt!

Ohio star (done correctly!) Although when I did it, I did it wrong and had to rip half of it out to get the "star" to be going the right way.  I could see this one being pretty as a three color way block.

Long arm

Every once in a while Jo-Ann's has clearance fabric go 50% off.  I go a little nuts, because you can get some really good fabric for really cheap.  Well about three weeks before I was going to go use the long arm machine, Jo-Ann's had their clearance fabric on sale.  So I bought some fabric that I could sandwich (without having to piece) and practice using the long arm.  So this is a cheap blanket but I learned a lot :)

I also should stick to buying batting in 2 yard increments, because buying 6 yards I had a lot of left overs that couldn't be used in another quilt.

I decided I was just going to play.  I used some of the designs from my iPad and then kind of experimented.  So you can see the lines across, just like when I draw on a whiteboard I cannot make a straight line, I couldn't on the long arm, so I used some chalk and drew lightly on the quilt.

 This is where I started.  The hearts were difficult for me to do!  I will definitely need to practice on the motion of the machine.  The second row did NOT turn out how I thought it would! again I am going to have to practice on the motion of the machine.  The third row was supposed to be spirals and swirls.  Not bad for a first try ;)

Then I tested some straight lines back and forth.  Then big loops and little loops.

I added a pen to this picture to show the size of the quilting.  This was

Then I played with meandering and more swirls and loops.

Black Friday shopping

I have never been really into black Friday shopping, but my friend Christine is, and when we planned to go out this year, we planned to go black Friday shopping together.  We decided the only place we REALLY wanted to hit up was Jo-Ann's.  The flannel (among other things) was on a HUGE sale.

We were the first ones at the door on Friday morning.  And we both spent a lot of money! I bought a lot of flannel, some for quilt backs, some just cause it was cute (I don't have a quilt in mind for it yet).

Then Friday night we set up Christine's sewing room, except I never got a picture of it! I think it's really cute, and this is the best I have.

Except it doesn't show her awesome mannequin (whom we named Claire), or her large table she has her machine on.  This weekend I worked on quilt blocks and Christine finished an outfit! it's a one piece jumpsuit tube top type thing.  I don't want to post pictures of it yet, because she plans on wearing it soon, and I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise!

My view today

Sewing with Christine. Two heads are better than one!!!