Festival of Strings

Back in December I quilted my first string project (that was FULLY made with fabric I had on hand).  Here is the post, but I am adding the pictures here again.

It's the string X pattern that I found on Quiltville, Bonnie Hunters website.

I love how it turned out! I didn't get as much of a pattern as I would have liked with the backgrounds, but I was proud of myself for not buying anything.  I used whatever I had.

I had fun playing with the long arm on this project. One of my favorite spots was here where I "drew" straight lines.  I did waves in all the X's.

Here I made a flower

And you can see the waves here.

I am still getting to use to the long arm, and I forgot that even if the backing is the same size is the front, it won't fit with on the long arm because of needing extra to attach it.  So I had a border I had to finish up myself.

I have been saving bindings from projects I have been making for years now, I attach them to each other once the project is done, and that was the perfect binding for this

Now I know my original post was in December, but I didn't get this bad boy bound until February of this year.  And then I was really bad and I never took pictures of it finished! but I shipped it off to a friend.  But she did take some pictures for me:

I am entering Stitched in Color's Festival of Strings 

I am linking up to let's get acquainted.

200th post

Today is my 200th post!! I am so excited!! I can't believe I have written that much! It's been 3 years since I started this blog.  Most of my posts have been in the past year.  I have recently decided that I don't care if anyone else reads this, I love going back through and seeing all that I have accomplished this year.

I decided a while ago that for my 200th post I wanted to have a giveaway.  I have been saving selvages, and I know that there are people that have used them for projects, but it has never been something that interested me.  I thought they would be a good give away item :)

Here they are! (This is not all of them!) If you would like a chance to win, please leave me a comment by Next Wednesday June 5th, telling me what you want to make with selvages!

Block swap - April

I was SO bad with my April block swaps, I feel really bad, but the ladies I talked to were more than understanding!

My first partner was Lynette at What a Hoot.  She asked for the block a mothers dream.

Here is the block I sent her.  Finding enough fabrics that looked like thanksgiving was tough!

Here is the kitty she sent me.

 ****

And my second partner was Carol.  She didn't have a block request, just that it was to be purple.  I found these fabrics, I thought they would go together nicely.

And they were ok. I am not sure how much I love them.  I am not sure there is enough contrast.

And here is the lovely kitty she sent me!!

Pillows

I found a panel of fabric that I thought would make lovely pillows.  So I long armed the fabric, just practicing. 

I have finished two of them. 

And a close up of the stitching

Pebbles and lines. My pebbles need lots of practice. 

Trying to do waves. Hard in the small space. 

Yearly goals

Wow! It's May 13th! I'm not sure where the time went!  I know I was sick toward the beginning of the month. But how is the month half way over? These were my original goals, you can also use the tag goals 2013.

1. 51 posts for the year.  49 to go.  I believe this is my 198th post, and I am going to have a giveaway for my 200th post, so stay tuned!!

2. I have finished 2 quilts this year!! (Kitties quilt & my quilt for my FIL) woohoo!! I haven't been in my sewing room lately, but I do have some Christmas presents that I am working on.  So that's five.  So I think I am good!!

3. So far I have my string quilt, and once I get it started my Lorax quilt.

I had also posted about my goals for April

* I didn't even start my Lorax quilt.  Well I guess that's a lie, I started some test blocks (I don't want to cut into that lovely fabric and mess something up).

* I didn't bind my long arm projects from last year :(

* I have thought about the stockings.  Does that count :p

* And I did finish two quilts (Kitties quilt & my quilt for my FIL)

I am not going to make goals for May, because I know I won't get them finished.  I am not sure when/if I will have time to sew, I am busy this weekend, and I am not sure what we are doing for memorial day.

Apology and travel stash winner!

I am VERY sorry I did not post the winner to the traveling stash on Monday (or the rest of this week).  I went out of town, and knew I was coming back on Monday and thought I would have plenty of time to post, which I would have, if I would not have gotten sick!  Today has been the first day I finally feel human again (and can breathe through my nose!).

So without further ado, the winner of the traveling (leap year stash) is :

Handmade by Rebeckah!!!!

Congratulations!

School has gotten busy and I haven't been able to sew.  But I did get some sewing time in tonight, so expect some posts in the coming week with progress on projects!

Finish project #2

This is my second finished project of the year!!

I used some of the blocks from my block swap adventure.  I had two left, so I will save those for my next quilt.  I had leftover black strips from my black & white log cabin, so I chose to use that as sashing.  I knew I wanted to add a border, but I wasn't sure what.  As I dug through my fabric I found a purple kitty fabric, there was  a close up of it a few weeks ago from when I rented the long arm.

Here is the back. I have never been a fan of pieced backs.  But I KNEW I wanted to use the pink panther fabric on the back, which I didn't have enough of, so I pulled out a kitty print, which helped, but ti was still a little short, so I added a little bit to the sides.  Just some remnants I had.

I mailed this off to my friend, and I think she likes it :) thank you to my swapper friends for helping me finish this!

Leap year stash

So I won a traveling stash at the beginning of April.  And then AGAIN now!! It's so cool!  I'm not sure where that luck came from!  This one is a little different, because it's the leap year box.  Which means that it is only shipped once a month!  I won this one from Books, Hooks, Sticks, etc. 

Here are the rules and guidelines:

RULES:

1. Be an active blogger. Post about receiving and the giveaway on your blog in a timely manner.
2. There is a note in the box that logs where the box has been. Please add your info and place the note back in the box.
3. There is a list of Rules and Guidelines in the box. Please read and follow these and return the list to the box.
4. You may take anything you like from the box. Just replace every item with comparable quilt shop quality items equal to the amount taken. See guidelines below.
5. Ship the box to the next person in a reasonable amount of time.
6. Due to the amount of postage shipping is only within the USA.

GUIDELINES:
The definition of a stash is a secret store of valuables. For quilters it's a collection of usable quality products. The stash should contain mostly fabric with a few patterns and/or books and other items.

• FABRIC:     Should be quilt shop quality in new condition. Scraps should only be included if they are cut for adding to a collection and packaged accordingly (i.e. I-Spy squares, postage stamp squares, etc.). There should not be anything under a Fat Quarter unless packaged like this.
• PATTERNS/BOOKS:     Should be in new or gently used condition. They should be kept to a minimum (books are bulky and add weight).
• OTHER ITEMS:     Should be in new or gently used condition. Tools, notions, etc. These items should be packaged if necessary.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER:

• If you receive a box with anything that is of "poor" condition you should not feel guilty in tossing it out.
• Only put items in the box that you would be proud to own. The box is NOT a dumping place for all your outdated unwanted items.
• Items should be free of smoke and pet hairs.
• You must replace items you take with the same quantity of like-kind items. Replacing more than you take is always welcome.  :)

Here are the pictures from the stash I received!

 Look at all those fun fabrics and patterns!

And even more!! It's all so cool!

If you would like a chance at winning this stash leave me a comment by next MONDAY May 6th!

Fun blocks

This is actually my first finish of the year! (That was not a UFO!)

Well the blocks I was making entitled "fun blocks" was just a disguise.  It was really a quilt I was making for my father in law.

He is a pastor so I decided to give all his blocks a biblical theme.

left to right, top to bottom : Joseph's coat, walls of jericho, storm at sea, crown of thorns, greek cross, crown & crown, carpenters wheel, palm leaves, garden of eden, devils puzzle, children of Isreal and Jacobs ladder.

To quilt it I just did a meander, I had thought about doing something different for each block, but I do not feel confident enough in my quilting to do that.  Although I did draw "lines" in the crosses to make it look like wood.

I believe he enjoyed it :) Now I only need to make a quilt for MY dad.  Making quilts for men are SO tricky!

I am linking up to Richard & Tanya's link a finish Friday.

Quilt festival

This weekend I went to Cincinnati to visit my in-laws. They surprised me with a trip to the international quilt festival.

It was WONDERFUL!!! I saw so much outstanding stuff! I bought a twister ruler. But no fabric. I was able to show my in-laws what a long arm machine looks like.  They are hard picture if you have never seen one used!

This was my first time going to a quilt festival.  So my pictures aren't the best, and I am not sure how to make them better.  I suppose going to more shows will help :)

I didn't get the label from this one, but I think it's lovely!





This one is lovely! it is actually embellished.

This was where my husband picked for lunch!  My husband did well!! It was delicious! and SO filling!

Most of the blocks had dark outsides and light insides, but as you can see here, this one (above) had light outsides and dark insides!

I just LOVE it!!

And look at those pretty Zinnias!

Traveling Stash!

Well it's Friday the 12th, so I took all the names (two of them).  Put them in a hat, and pulled out a name!

The winner is Emily at Callender's Creations! Congrats Emily! I will be getting the box off to you tonight!

Walls of Jericho

If I were to do this one again I would probably see about doing it with strip sets (at least for part of the triangles)

Traveling Stash

Hello all! I just thought I would give you a quick reminder that the traveling stash drawing will be Friday, I will take any comments until Thursday (that's tomorrow)!  Here is a link to the post.

Long arm

I've rented the long arm for the day. I can't share any of my projects because they're gifts. But I'll give you a sneak peak.

Traveling Stash

I am not sure if you have heard of the traveling stash, but it's awesome! You can find more out about it here. I won the stash from Wendy at Stitchduchess Crazy & Sane quilting world



Here are the rules and guidelines:

RULES:

1. Be an active blogger. Post about receiving and the giveaway on your blog in a timely manner.
2. There is a note in the box that logs where the box has been. Please add your info and place the note back in the box.
3. There is a list of Rules and Guidelines in the box. Please read and follow these and return the list to the box.
4. You may take anything you like from the box. Just replace every item with comparable quilt shop quality items equal to the amount taken. See guidelines below.
5. Ship the box to the next person in a reasonable amount of time.
6. Due to the amount of postage shipping is only within the USA.

GUIDELINES:
The definition of a stash is a secret store of valuables. For quilters it's a collection of usable quality products. The stash should contain mostly fabric with a few patterns and/or books and other items.

• FABRIC:     Should be quilt shop quality in new condition. Scraps should only be included if they are cut for adding to a collection and packaged accordingly (i.e. I-Spy squares, postage stamp squares, etc.). There should not be anything under a Fat Quarter unless packaged like this.
• PATTERNS/BOOKS:     Should be in new or gently used condition. They should be kept to a minimum (books are bulky and add weight).
• OTHER ITEMS:     Should be in new or gently used condition. Tools, notions, etc. These items should be packaged if necessary.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER:

• If you receive a box with anything that is of "poor" condition you should not feel guilty in tossing it out.
• Only put items in the box that you would be proud to own. The box is NOT a dumping place for all your outdated unwanted items.
• Items should be free of smoke and pet hairs.
• You must replace items you take with the same quantity of like-kind items. Replacing more than you take is always welcome.  :)

Here are the pictures from the stash I received today!

 Look at all that fun fabric and patterns!

Right now this is what I took (I might change my mind before I ship it out ;) )

And right now I've added one charm pack.  (You'll have to wait until you get the box to see what else you are getting!)  If you would like to be entered to win this, please leave me a comment telling me where you live!

This will be open until Thursday April 11th.

Cross & crown

I love this block, its name, how it looks.  I couldn't decide if I wanted red on white or white on red, so I went to my husband. He said white on red, he liked there being the red as a background.

I found some very good directions for this block, (here)

And this is what my block looked like!

What I would like to finish in April

I have my goals for the year, but I would like to make goals for April, my husband will be traveling quite a bit, so I will have plenty of time to sew.

*I would like to have a good chunk of my lorax quilts started (cut out, maybe start sewing).

*I would like to put the binding on the two long arm projects I have from last year.

*I would also like to start working on some Christmas stockings.

*And this is a goal I know I'll hit, I would like to finish two quilts.

I'm linking to

Design wall Monday

Woohoo! Sewing during break! My favorite! I feel so productive. Especially if I don't look at the rest of the house!

I don't actually have a design wall. But I have a twin size bed. So that is where I usually design.

What I have up today is my string blocks. Which are 9". I have 20 blocks and no more of that blue I used. It's definitely not very big, so I will need to add more. Another 20 probably ;) what color do you suggest I add?

What's on your wall today? Check out all the other projects at The patchwork times! (http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/04/01/design-wall-monday-12/)

April goals check in

Wow it's the first of April. I'm checking in on my goals.

1. 37 posts. I think right now this goal will be met. But the year isn't over yet.

2. I really want to finish something soon. I have so many on-going projects, it would be nice to say, hey, I got this one done! Hopefully during break this week I can finish 1.

3. I still have two new quilts to start. (One is the string quilt) and then I also have the lorax tumbler quilt (which will also use my fat cat ruler). My sister bought me a quilt book, which I'd love to try a pattern from.

I feel like I've picked good goals for the year. They're totally doable to me, and I've been able to make progress on them.

fun blocks

Ohh buddy! This block was a toughie!! Not difficult per say, but it took a lot of time.  I actually started this Sunday night.  I got about half of the paper piecing pieces done (say that three times fast!).  Then Monday night I finished the pieces and sewed them into a block.  So it was time to remove the paper! I feel like that has taken more time than the sewing! (of course I would rather sew than remove paper, so. . .)

I was disappointed some of the seams didn't match up, and that is what I struggle the most with in paper piecing.  I think if I would have removed the paper before sewing them, I could have matched them up better.

I really really like this block, but there is NO way I would make a full quilt out of this block by paper piecing!  I found the paper pieced pattern here at generations quilt patterns.  It was very helpful, but I don't like the paper piecing.