WIP Wednesday

The weather this week has been just ugly...overcast, rainy, no sun.  So my pictures are not the greatest!  But I have been working on stuff this week, big yay!  Work is not settled down, I'm still taking work home almost every night, but I am turning it off at a certain time to work on something creative.

I was bound and determined to NOT start any new projects until I whittled down the WIP list....but I couldn't help it this time!  We have new living room furniture being delivered on Friday and I just had to make up a pillow for it!  I actually need to make another one, but since this one was an experiment, I started with one. I've never made a pillow like this before, and it's totally inspired by this quilt I have loved for a while.  There is no pattern, or tutorial, so I had to wing it.  It measures approximately 24 inches square...now to find a form....

I have a bit of insomnia now and again, so this pouch was born out of that last night!  I love gray...it's in all of my projects lately.

This quilt is going to be another favorite of mine...seriously crappy picture, ugh!  Oh well, you get the idea :o)  This is going to be a Mother's Day gift for my SIL who had a miscarriage this past fall.  I know it's going to be a hard M Day for her, and I hope this makes her feel extra loved.

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced!

Supernova Finish

More pictures of this quilt...sorry for the overload this week!  I just love this one so much!  I still need to run it through the wash but here she is, all quilted up :o)

I had a great time quilting this baby.  I tried to branch out a little bit and try some more creative things.  I have found so much inspiration on Pinterest, of course!

No progress has been made on any other project this week, but hoping that changes this week!

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced and Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts!!

Quilting the Supernova

Two posts in one week, watch out!!  This quilt has been so fun to work on.  Besides the fact that I  ♥ every single fabric, it was just a breeze to finish.  I have been having issues with basting lately.  Normally, I am a pinner, but the last 2 quilts have converted me to a sprayer!  It was so much faster to baste and quilt because I wasn't stopping to take out pins.  I know it's yet another expense, but it's worth it for larger quilts, that's for sure!  I used the 505 brand and it did gum my needle a little bit....but the gummy bits rubbed right off the needle and I usually change needles after machine quilting anyway.

I also got a new pair of gloves recently...I lost my well-loved/used quilting gloves recently and got a cheap pair of gardening gloves for $2 at WalMart.  They are awesome!!  They are so grippy :o)

Each section got its own quilting design.  It isn't perfect, but I love it!!

I wanted to do something different with the neutral space, but was a little stumped.  This was my inspiration, but with fewer bubbles. My husband saw it and was pretty impressed, so that was pretty cool.

I hope to get some good pictures of the whole thing tonight to show tomorrow....if I get home before the light is gone.  I need to retire so I can quilt!!

WIP Wednesday

I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I last blogged!!  I am alive and well, just overwhelmed with busyness.  It's the last month and a half of school and there seems to be a mad rush to pack in field trips, sports, activities before time runs out.  Emma is playing volleyball and is happy as a clam.  She and Dayna are both doing so great with their gymnastics, too!

Onto the WIP list!  I have been making some progress, although small in the last few weeks.  Last I blogged about the mountain of quilt tops that need finishing.

1.  Good Folks Supernova - basted.  Since my last post, I have finished quilting a customer quilt and had all kinds of issues with basting so un-pinned it all and re-basted with spray.  I cannot believe how everything just stayed put so much better!  So I spray-basted my Good Folks Supernova quilt and I am hoping it will work just as well.

Here is the backing of my Supernova quilt....LOVE this fabric from IKEA!

This next quilt top is something I should have done a LONG time ago...sad to say.  It's a project that I had totally forgotten about until recently and I can't believe I am so long in getting this done, or that I forgot about it, omw!!  It's a signature quilt from a friend's wedding.   Guests signed their names on squares of white cotton and I was going to whip it together into a quilt.  Here we are almost 4 years later and it's finally a quilt top.  This one is super-high priority to get finished asap.  I thought I would go with the heart theme I have fallen in love with in the last couple of months.  Her wedding colors were 2 shades of pink, which ALWAYS makes me think of Steel Magnolias "blush and bashful"...if you don't know what I'm talking about we can't be friends anymore :o)  So I pulled a bunch of pink from my stash and went to town making this in less than 4 hours.

No progress has been made on the other 6 quilts on my last WIP list.  *sigh*

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced...so many great projects!!

 

WIP Wednesday

I cannot believe I have so many projects that are just hanging around unfinished!!  Apparently I am way more inclined to be making tops than finishing any of them.  So, I currently have 7 tops that need to be quilted, oy.  I think it has more to do with the fact that I hate to baste, as does almost everyone else!

Speaking of....how do y'all baste your quilts??  I have tried spraying, but pinning is always what I go back to.  But lately, I've had issues with my pinned quilts shifting layers while quilting and I have no idea why....I tape the backing taut, use lots of pins, no puckers while pinning, etc.  Very frustrating!  Suggestions are greatly appreciated!!

Here are my current WIPs:  

1.  Chicopee spiderweb quilt ~ this one is basted, hoping it doesn't have issues with quilting!!

 2.  Brrr! quilt ~ top done, needs to be basted, quilted, etc.

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3.  Branson's Chargers quilt ~ needs to be basted, quilted, etc.  Need a MUCH bigger floor for this one, cuz this one is huge.

4.  Scrappy trip along ~ needs to be ironed, basted, quilted

5.  Single Girl quilt ~ needs to be basted, quilted, etc

6.  Love quilt ~ needs to be basted, quilted

 7.  My newest WIP, Good Folks Supernova ~ needs to be basted, quilted

This last one is my favorite ♥
I hope everyone is having a great week so far!

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced

Good Folks Supernova

Hey all!  It has been pretty quiet on the ole blog lately and I miss it!!  I have been up to a lot of different things but not much crafty.  I am running a 5K in 3 weeks (signed up AND paid so no backing out!!), super excited/nervous/anxious/hopeful!  A friend of mine and I are running together, so that's going to be awesome.  We're flirting with maybe running a half marathon in June....but I am not so sure.  I started training for it, but we'll see!  Running 13 miles is nuts, right??  Anyway, that's what I've been up to mostly.  I started blogging about my exercise and weight loss here, if you wanna read about my insanity :o)

Today's post is really about my newest quilt top...the Good Folks Supernova.  I got the pattern from this book.  Been in love with it for a while now, just didn't have an idea of what fabrics to use.  So, I broke out my hoarded stash of Good Folks.  I ♥ this fabric collection!!  I wish they would reprint it like they did with Flea market fancy.  Anyway, I also wasn't sure about the background fabric either, whether to go with a solid (my usual) or outside the box with a low volume arrangement.  I apologize in advance for all the pictures but I couldn't help it!!

Used a ton of "low volume" favorites

One of my fave fabrics!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!!  It was 80 degrees here yesterday but back to 50 today...hoping for great weather for the 5K!

Linking up my finished quilt top to Amanda Jean's Finish It Friday!

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LOVE Quilt

I started this post on Saturday, but life got in the way and I couldn't finish it....and today I am just in a funk.  I feel like so many things are going wrong around me and it's throwing me for a loop.  I looked at this quilt again today and it brings a smile to my face.

I bought this pattern back a few weeks ago and just couldn't get it out of my mind.  Last summer I got these bright charms from Connecting Threads...thought they would be perfect for this project!  I altered the pattern a bit, just to use up all the charms, then assembled it completely backwards.  Hey, it was REALLY late....no wonder none of the strips lined up.  I had to trim a ton off the top and bottom.  It was a good thing I had pre-planned to have extra negative space, cuz it went in the trash with the trimming...oh well, that's what I get for sewing at 3 in the morning.

So here is the finished top, freshly pieced and ironed.  The colors are so vibrant, too.  I used Kona Ash for the neutral.  Turns out I really like that shade of grey.  I am planning to put this baby on the wall in my hallway, in the middle, then pictures of the family all around it.

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced!

 

Single Girl Table Runner

So, apparently, I am slightly obsessed with this pattern....just a tad!  I have made 3 quilts and now started a table runner.  Since I paper piece the arcs, shrinking the pattern was super easy!  I took my templates that fit on 11"x17" paper and shrunk it 67% to fit on 8 1/2"x11" paper.  I have had a Vintage Modern layer cake hanging around for a while, so I just sliced off a 3" strip from each fabric and went to town!  i think I am going to use Kona Ash for the background.

Here are my completed rings!  The normal size for the rings is about 20" and these measure about 15" - the perfect size for the space on the top of my piano :o)

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced

Quilted Workout Bag

I was browsing on Pinterest one day this week....and found this awesome comic!!

Of course, my first thought was of the workout bag I made over Christmas break and never posted about!  So, I thought I would share that 2 months later....better late than never :o)  I wanted a cute workout bag that was big enough to fit an entire outfit, shoes, towel, mini bag for hygiene products, and anything else I might need.  I have seen so many quilt as you go bags, so that was the method I used...and I have TONS of scraps to choose from.  I just wanted it to be huge with lots of my fave fabrics.  It measures about 20 inches tall, by 22 inches wide and is enormous.  It fits everything I can imagine with room to spare!

Now if only I looked so cute after I worked out!