Anything But Consistent

That is definitely me when it comes to this blog. Either I'm all over it or I'm slacking and lately I'm the later.

I am working on a couple things. This is one of the UFOs that I shared a couple weeks back. I think it might need a border once I get the piecing done.



This is a pile for the next quilt top I'm going to make. I figure one UFO, one new project. Let's see how long I can pull this off. (HA HA HA)



And some fun flip flops for the Munchkin. She thinks I'm a genius. If she only knew.



That's it for now. Have a great night!

UFO # 8 (Quilted)

Did I have you waiting with baited breath? On pins and needles??

The connection between the gum and UFO #8 is the crazy zebras. I saw the fabric, who knows where, and had to have it because it reminded me of the Fruit Stripe gum I chewed as a child.

You see the resemblance right?

OK, here is the finished quilt.

Dwirling is the quilting pattern I used. The Pajama Quilter (Dawn Rameriz) does a segment on her DVD on dwirling. It's an all over pattern that's more just to give the quilt texture. I thought it could look like the lines you see on a zebra. OK, so it's a little much for this quilt, but it was fun. Practice, practice, practice for me using this pattern. There are areas where I wasn't very consistent with my spacing in between passes. Oh well, I'm rather pleased with my efforts.

And a closer look...

Sissy just couldn't stay out of the picture. She couldn't wait for me to take the quilt off the rail so she could take a little nap on it.

UFO #7 (Quilted)

This week got away from me. Seems like there was a lot going on, but there really wasn't. I did finish UFO #7. YIPPEE. The fabric is Spring Fling from Moda. In typical Becky fashion, I bought a jelly roll and made 2 tops from it. I quilted a free hand flower on it in pink thread. I thought the quilting would stand out more. Again, pleased with my efforts. My friend Pam is going to help me with some quilting lessons next weekend. Hopefully her efforts will help me get a few quilt tops completed.

This morning I spent some time perusing magazines. I'm addicted to quilt magazines. Actually that addiction is almost as bad as the fabric one. The magazine aisle at the grocery store, Target, Walmart, Lowes is a must. I think I'm going to try to put a couple quick tops together, so that I have some more practice tops for next Saturday. I think the Simply Strippy (Easy Quilts Magazine, Fons & Porter) will help me use up some stash and will allow me to have lines follow.

Next weekend is the the Quilt Shop Hop here in Kansas City. I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to hit some of the stores or lay low. It's also Charm School at Harper's, so I might just have to get out for a little bit. Oh the dilemmas that I face.
Edit: I'm a week ahead. Shop Hop is April 3-6, not this next weekend. Oops

Happy Easter to Everyone!!!

Another Finish

UFO #6 finished.

What I thought would be an easy finished, wasn't so easy after all. I put the top on the frame and started it. All was going well and then the thread breaks started. I adjusted, threaded the machine again and even took a break. While on break, I thought that chocolate might be order. Chocolate definitely helped change the frame of mind I was in. Finally after entering the chocolate induced haze, I headed down to finish.

I put another quilt on the frame. Hopefully I can get to it later tonight (or tomorrow). I don't normally float the top, but I was feeling daring when I loaded it. Hopefully I won't regret that decision. I made 2 quilt tops from this jelly roll (Moda Celebrate Spring).

Happy Birthday and March is Machine Quilting Month, Too

Today is my birthday. ARG - 42. I don't know why, but that number just seems way tooooo high. I know it's not, it's just me being crazy. I will get a call from my dad tonight wishing me Happy Birthday. In his mind, I'm still 7. To him, I haven't progressed in age at all. (High school & college graduations along with a marriage and birth of a child were rather difficult for him to fathom). A happy medium between the two numbers would be good. Oh well, it's better than the alternatives.

Grace was very excited this morning to tell everyone that today was my birthday. It was very entertaining to have 8 little kids running around me SCREAMING happy birthday Gracie's Mommy (because I have no first name other than Gracie's mommy). I'm good with that though.

To celebrate tonight, I think we will partake of some Sheridan's custard cake. For those of you not in the KC area, you don't know what you are missing. It's the BOMB baby! The Weight Watchers program will start tomorrow. :-)

On the quilting front, I've decided that March will be declared machine quilting month just like I did for February. I managed to get some quilts done and out of the box of UFOs, but I don't feel like I put a big enough dent in the pile. So, I'm hoping to get about 4 or 5 more tops completed. Hopefully by the end of the weekend, I can provide some photos.

Hmmm, what am I thinking???? Saturday is my 17th Anniversary. That's another crazy number. Funny how when you get married, you think it will be all wine and roses and then you hit the first bump in the road... Well I'm happy to say we have had some bumps, dips and HUGE potholes, but we have managed to weather them all and learn from each. In this day and age where the divorce rate is out this world, I'm happy to say that we have made it to year number 17.

I would much rather be at home sewing today, but I must get busy! Have a good day!!!

Another Finish

We woke up to snow this morning. The wonderful forecasters said we were supposed to have rain. They can't ever seem to get it right. Thankfully it hit the high 40's so now it's all melted. I'm so ready for Spring.

I was able to make some time and finish the quilt top I started on Thursday night. Todays quilting session seem to go much smoother than Thursday night.

I used Linda Taylor's Rosey Posey panto. I LOVE that design. I think I'm going to have to use it on a lot more of my quilts. The pattern came as an 8 and 15" design. I can do the 8, but I think the 15 is bigger than I can work on my frame. I will have to figure out how to do some reducing.

One more UFO completed. I don't think I really have accomplished as much as I wanted during February, but I did get a few things done.

Our computer is up on the 2nd floor and we have an open floor plan. I'm chuckling at the conversation going on downstairs. DH is trying to convince Grace it's bathtime. She needs her hair washed tonight, which is always an ordeal. He asked if she was ready to go upstairs and the response was a definite NO. When asked why she responded that Mommy was going to wash her hair. Daddy tried to explain that he could do it. Grace's answer - NO WAY you use the bucket. Meaning he fills one her play buckets with water and just dumps it on her head. I think I would have to respond the same way to him if I knew he was going to wash my hair like that.

My MIL will be coming in Wednesday night from California. I don't think I will get much done while she is here. I wished that she was crafty because then we could hit the quilt shops, but she's not. I believe there will be a trip to the Disney store and the Merry-Go-Round at the mall. Oh well, it will be nice to visit.

Woman on a Mission

Today I was a woman on a mission to finish some projects before starting anything else.

I started by cutting and sewing together binding for 4 quilts and a back for another.

I quilted a baby quilt that was on my frame. I was concerned because I kept breaking the thread and ending up with a giant mess on the backside of the quilt. I finally got everything running smoothly and was able to finish the quilting. I'm pleased with this one. I did swirls again. Definitely think I have the hang of them and need to move onto something else for the next quilt.

My DH was impressed with this quilt. He asked who it was for. All I could do was shrug and smile. I think he thinks that I have a person in mind for each of the quilts that I'm managing to finish.

Next on this list were bags. I love those little bags, so I made 3 more. They go together so quickly I couldn’t help myself.

To finish the productive day, I put the binding I made on 3 quilts. I will get to the last quilt and it's binding once I get all my hand sewing done.

On top of my productiveness today, during the week I managed to finish 9 bags for the photographer.

UFO #4 (Quilted)

UFO #4 was quilted this afternoon. All I need to do is get the binding on it and then it's officially done. I picked this pattern up when we were in Dallas 2 years ago. The car and it's driver (me) needed to make a trip to McKinney to The Quilt Asylum. Very cool store. The pattern is made from a charm square pack and it's supposed to look like an elongated star. If I really stare at the top I can see it, but it's not something that jumps out at me.

For the quilting, I did some swirls. Pretty fun and they didn't turn out too bad. I don't have a stitch regulator on my machine, so there are some sections were the stitching got a little large. I think it just means that I need to practice some more.

The trip to the quilt shops on Thursday evening was a LOT of fun. As usual, I did some damage. We hit Quilting Bits & Pieces in Eudora first. They have such beautiful fabric there. I had one very hungry 4 year old on my hands, so finding food was of the essence. We loaded back up in the car and drove to Lawrence. Dinner was at Free State Brewery. I absolutely love that place and pick it every time we head to Lawrence. Unfortunately dinner took a little bit too long because Sarah's was closed by the time we made it back down the street. I'm sure that people were laughing at the 3 of us standing in front of the shop window oogling over the fabric on display. There will be a return trip to Lawrence in the near future. We jaywalked across the street to Stitch On Needlework. That's where the damage occurred for me. I love all of the BRIGHT kids fabric that they carry. The munchkin was on a mission to add to her purple stash. My friend Christine didn't help and just kept handing her more and more purple fat quarters. I'm going to have to come up with something to use all of the fat quarters we accumulate.

UFO #3 (Quilted)

YIPPEE, I have my first quilt done for February. I'm bad, I don't name my quilts, short of this is for baby Corbin, so I'll call it Corbin's Quilt. This is the quilt for my husband's coworker that I mentioned in a previous post. Maybe by the time I hit my 100th post, I will figure out how not to get the crazy angles I manage to capture in all my pictures. Oh well, this blogging is creating numerous learning opportunities for me. Quilts for Babys: Easy as ABC by Ursula Reikes is the book this Attic Window pattern came from. I love Ursula's books because patterns are very easy and always go together without issues.

I spent last week watching my quilting DVDs for as many tips as I could possibly pick up. I decided to work on my Loop-D-Loop skills with this quilt. Patsy Thompson mentioned that you shouldn't make all the loops the same size. I really think that helped me. Instead of freaking out because my loops weren't the same size it was fun to make small loops and then giant loops. I let the "Spirit" move me. It seemed liked it made it a lot easier for me to vary the direction of the loops too.

Saturday I pulled out my box of unquilted tops - 25. Adding the 2 from Sunday that makes 27 (aren't you impressed with my 1st grade math?). I think I should have plenty of opportunities to practice this month.

Tonight was good.

1. I tried very hard not to be critical of myself. My quilting isn't perfect, but the quilt is done. Practice makes perfect. (26 more to go)
   
2. I tried to float the top, which I don't normally do. I had some bunching by the time I got to the bottom of the quilt. With that I learned that I do a better job when the top is attached to the appropriate roller on my frame. I'm never going to know how it will turn out unless I try.
   
3. I used 2 pieces of batting butted together for this quilt. I managed to clear 2 pieces out of my batting stash instead of creating more. I didn't have a lump in the middle and I think the amount of quilting I did will definitely keep all the batting in place.
4. I learned that Mindy Casperson (I Have a Long Arm and I'm Not Afraid to Use It) is a genius. In her DVD she talked about small spools of thread and how they need to come off the spool the way they are wound. Small spools aren't wound like the large cones. Makes sense, but I really didn't know that until she said it. Mindy recommended using a horizontal spool holder on the machine. Since I don't have one I improvised based on her recommendation. A chop stick duct taped to the machine with a binder clip to keep the thread on. Very McGyver don't you think? My dad would have a coronary if he saw this picture.

Duct tape really does have a million uses.

Busy Busy

We had crazy weather here today. When I left the house for work it was 52*. By the time I made it to work and was heading in, I heard the DJ say the temp was 21*. I was only in the car for 1/2 an hour. Then on top of the cold front that moved in, we had Chicago type wind and blowing snow. Would have been a GREAT day to stay in and sew.

Tonight I was busy busy busy. I finished UFO #3 (top) Jelly Roll (Moda - Celebrate Spring) baby quilt. It's very similar to one I posted previously. I must have something for wrinkles. Seems that there is one in almost every picture - oh well.

I also made a bag for my 4 year old. She saw the exact purse and pattern when we went to Quiltfest in Chicago in November. Quiltsmart was the booth we got the pattern at. Very slick. The idea was to take the thinking and measuring out of making the bag and they succeeded. They provided printed interfacing and all you do is fuse the chosen fat quarters, cut and sew. Very very simple. I think it took me all of 1/2 an hour to make the complete bag. The worst part was trying to turn the handles right side out. I'm always challenged by that though.

Modeled by the Bag Model (acting goofy)

Tomorrow night I'm going to try and get the other 2 bags done that I committed to.

UFO #2 (Top) Completed

Ok, blogging is a good thing for me. It's definitely keeping me motivated to finish things. Today I finished my Turning Twenty top. I'm pleased with how it turned out. Pinks and browns, definitely colors I wouldn't put together. Ignore the wrinkles in the picture. I was having to move quickly because there was a big fat cat getting ready to pounce.

I plan on keeping this quilt and using it my guest room. My real hope is to get it finished and on the bed for my MIL comes to visit at the end of February.

"Indian Summer" is the name of the quilt hanging on the wall in that room. I was the lucky winner of this quilt. It was made in 2003 by the Olathe Quilt Guild. I used to belong to that guild before the munchkin came into the picture. I keep thinking about joining again, but just haven't done it. I did help with this quilt by making some of the flying geese.

This weeks projects:

• Bags for the photographer
• 3 simple purses for 3 little girls
• Jelly Roll baby quilt that's 3/4 done

UFO #1 - Finished

I finished the 2 things on my list and I'm feeling rather happy about that. Maybe I should publish more lists because its seems that I stick to them that way.

Here is a picture of my paper pieced flower top. The pattern came from Simply Sensational 9-Patch Stars by Carol Doak. I like it much better with the borders on.

So for this week, I'm going to try to accomplish the following:

1. Make 3 fun pillowcases for the wild 4 year old
2. Finish a baby quilt for a friend
3. Work on Turning Twenty Quilt

I think that the month of February is going to be machine quilting month. The idea will be to finish as many quilt tops as possible.

UFOs

Happy Monday!

Didn't get much sewing done this weekend. I spent most of the weekend taking down Christmas decorations and trying to organize my basement. I did manage to take some time yesterday to enjoy the crazy weather we are having here in Kansas. High 60's in January is unheard of, but very nice. I wouldn't complain if the rest of the winter was a nice, but I know that won't be the case. Miss Grace and I went with friends to the barn to visit their horses. A good time was had by all.

Onto my Monday topic... I mentioned the other day that I picked up a copy of Quilter's Home because of an article on the cover that caught my eye. When to Declare a UFO DOA. You can really declare a project dead and not finish it??? What a novel concept, why didn't I think of it sooner????

According to the article, here are some UFO Guidelines to think about:

1. Lose it -
   
2. Rethink it - Rethink your project - could it be a table runner instead of a lap quilt? Could it be a wall hanging instead of a baby quilt?
   
3. Forget it - If you can't rethink or "repurpose" the project, then maybe you should just forget it. It's OK to move on and not finish the project.
   
4. Chop it - Use what has been completed to practice a technique that you've always wanted to try or need practice with.
   
5. Scrap it - Turn your project into a scrap quilt. Take the pieces that are completed and make something that looks completely different in effort to finish the project.
   

Needless to say, after I finished up with my basement arranging, I made my way to my lair. Boy, do I have a lot more UFOs. They were hiding everywhere, in totes, boxes, and the fabric cabinet. I pulled them ALL out and put them under my quilting frame. I figure it will force me to look at them and maybe even move them when I head down to sew. I definitely need to do some rethinking, chopping and scrapping. I'm starting to think now, that I might have even "repurposed" fabric from some of those projects to other projects. UGH.