A Lovely Year of Finishes - May Wrap Up

May is almost over, and I'm happy to say I've made progress on my goal.  I had my main goal for May was to get the shirts for the four memory quilts I need to make deboned and cut into pieces.  I decided to do very simple quilts, square in a box is what I'm calling it.  The center of each block will be a square cut from one of Samuel's shirts and then it will have a frame around it of fabric.  I have purchase a grab bag of fabric from Fat Quarter Shop as well as some destash sales off of instagram for the framing fabrics.  They all will be scrappy, so that some of every shirt is in every quilt.

I put off cutting the shirts for a long time.  It was a real mental block for me.  I was most afraid of messing them up and disappointing my friend.  So they sat in this stage, while I fretted and tried to figure out the best way to go about cutting them.

Then I sat down one night and began cutting them into parts.  I cut the sleeves off, then the fronts and backs, stripping off yokes, cuffs, collars and button plackets. Those pieces went into a bucket for me to worry about later.  I'm going to use them to make some string blocks for the labels.  When I was done I had this.

The photo is a little blurry, but I was tired and didn't want to go get my camera so I just used my phone.  And they sat in this stage for a while, and then I began cutting again.  I decided to cut the center squares 5" and I'll do the framing strips at 2 1/2".  I've been cutting several nights on the bigger pieces and as of last night this is where they stand.

I'm about 1/4 to 1/3 done, because the tote on the right was jammed full when I started.  I'm hoping to keep cutting some every night until I'm done.  Once that is done then I can start dividing them into four piles so everyone gets some of each shirt.  

My other goals for May were to get more quilts finished.  I am happy to say that I quilted five quilts this month.  I even tried out my ruler base....didn't have much success with it, but will try again.  I've blogged about 4 of the quilts.  Which include Star Crossed, which is the one I used a ruler to quilt and it is being slept on nightly by Tucker.

Then I did Sharla's batik quilt, which is one of my favorites to date.  It is bright and colorful and just makes me smile.  I think she would have it on her bed if it were big enough. 

Then I did Sharla's Turning Twenty High Street.  This line of fabric is great, the colors are bright and cheerful.  I think that is why we both loved it.  I told her I put it on the ground to take a picture and she wasn't thrilled, but she was ok with it.  

Then number four was my Every Which Way quilt, which I'm donating to Quilts of Compassion.  I have to say I love the quilts so much more once they have been washed and get all scrunchy!!!  I'm hoping this makes some little girl very happy.

I've not blogged about my last quilt, that will be tomorrow.  But here is a photo of it while it was still on the frame.  It is Sharla's sock monkey quilt.  She is really loving it and hopefully I will get some great pictures of it for tomorrow's blog.

I did have one more goal and that was to get another quilt cut.  I was only partially successful on that one.  I did get one cut out, but I can't show you because it is a gift.  I got my PB&J pressed and starched, to cut, but it is still on the ironing board.  If all goes well I maybe able to cut it this weekend.  Overall I'm very happy with my progress.  Could I have done more, sure, but I'm not in a race.  I've had fun and that is really all that matters.

30/30 Sewing Challenge - Update 4

Ok this week was much better as far as sewing goes, but it was a really tough week otherwise.  I sewed more this week but as you will see in some of the photos, tired sewing is not a good thing.  I was determined to have a better week and so on Saturday when I got off work I started finishing the borders on my kissing booth quilt.  I was down to the last two borders and so it went together easily.  I love that sense of accomplishment when a top or quilt is done. It is a good size, I am not tall enough to hold it all up off the ground.  Which means it will be good for me to tuck under my feet and still reach my ears (the perfect quilt length to me).

On Sunday I pieced the back for my disappearing nine patch that was going on the long arm next. Then I had to iron it and the top, since the top has been folded away for months.  I love the colors on this one, the yellows are just so springy to me.  I think my photos of the back are on my ipad at home, and the only photo I have is of the top on the ironing board. I also loaded the top and back onto the long arm.

Monday meant quilting day.  I got the batting in place, turned on my tunes and started quilting.  I will say I love with the thread blends, but that also can lead to a few crossed over lines.  This is a fairly large quilt, and so it took me a good three hours to quilt, maybe a little more.  Of course I had to stop and play with Hollywood in between rows.  He has learned when the sewing stops to run into the room and beg for attention then, because when the machine is running I ignore him. I took a photo just as I was on the last pass.  I will say it over and over, I love my Handiquilter!!!!

Tuesday was grocery shopping day, laundry day, etc.  But it was also binding day.  I actually got the binding pieced on Monday and sewn to the back because I knew Tuesday was going to be a busy day. Once I got home I went to work on finishing the quilt and it was done fairly quickly.  I threw it up onto the frame to get a picture and who decided he needed to be in the photo....that would be Hollywood.

I decided cut out a practice block for my next test quilt on Tuesday night.  It is more half square triangles and I wanted to do a different method than the pattern described.  The HST were very easy to do with this method but they came out just a little bit small, but I decided to trim them up anyway and piece the block. Still love the new Bloc-Loc ruler, it really does make trimming those HST so much easier.

Now piecing the block is where things really fell apart.  First I cut two pieces too big and didn't realize it until I had already started sewing the block together.  Now the smart thing would have been to rip out and cut down, but to my tired brain that idea seemed hard.  Since it was just a test to see if I liked the colors, I just forced it.  But I really was tired because I put it together all wrong.  I looked at it and knew something wasn't right, but decided that I just needed to go to bed.

Now Wednesday was just a rough day.  Things were very stressful at Sharla's office, and they had a big job that needed to go out Wednesday morning.  We got to her office very early and I ended up staying there for a couple of hours to help her, before going to my office for a very hectic day. So by the time we got home we were both very very tired, but I wanted to get some sewing done. I had decided to switch the pink and purple and wanted to test using a little larger fabric.  I was able to get the block together, but when the designer saw it on Instagram, she noticed I still sewed it wrong.  That bottom left is still not sewn correctly. I did learn that I liked the pink and purple switched and even more important I learned sewing tired is not a good thing to do!!!

On Thursday I knew I was still too tired to try and sew, so instead I started cutting out the rest of the test quilt.  I didn't get it completed, but I made a good dent in it.  I just cut and watched some TV to give myself a little down time.

On Friday I had hit the wall.  I just was tired and neither Sharla or I was willing to do much.  In fact dinner was pickles/olives/crackers/cheese.  Yeah it was a gourmet night.  But once I rested for a little while I thought I could cut some more.  I'm still not finished cutting, but I've made some more progress. And no the blue and yellow aren't for the test quilt.  They are borders for a quilt Sharla is doing.

So that was my week.  My test blocks were a bust, but I learn something doing them.  And I finished a quilt top, finished a quilt and got most of another quilt cut. So overall I'm very happy with my progress. I think I've reached all of my goals for the month and still have a few days left over. I've quilted and finished one quilt each week this month, I've cut and pieced my kissing booth turning twenty quilt top, and I've started work on my test quilt.  

30/30 Sewing Challenge - Update 2

Happy National Quilting Day everyone, I hope you get to do something quilty today!!!!! It has been a week where lots got done, but at the same time it feels like very little got done.  I did finished the test quilt I was doing, and I'm happy with the results.  As soon as the pattern is released you will be able to see it.  But lets see what I got done.

On Saturday I started sewing my half square triangles for the test quilt.  It used the method where you sew around the squares and then cut them on the diagonal and get 4 half square triangles at one time.  I will say I loved this method, no marking, just sewing!!!!  I just got the sewing done on Saturday.

Then came Sunday or better known as the day Sharla and I broke the bank.  Not really, but we went to the Dallas Quilt Show and we bought several projects each...ok Sharla got 7 and I got 6.  And like us they were all over the board. We really weren't there to long, but since Sharla is still wearing that funky boot, we decided it was best to use the wheelchair, which meant I pushed her all around. And of course I couldn't just buy because I saw something I liked, we ended up going back to different places after we had gone through all the booths.  The quilts we saw were simply wonderful, but most were way out of my league.  Here is a photo of what we bought on the first pass, I think we added five more on the second time around.

When we got home, I was pretty whooped, and really didn't feel like sewing.  I sat in the recliner for a while with my feet up and then decided to try out one of the tools we purchased.  We got two Bloc Loc rulers, one for half square triangles and one for strips.  Let me say up front I LOVE them.  They work great and once I got hang of which way to turn them I got lots of triangles trimmed.

Monday rolled around, and Sharla took the day off, so I thought I would get lots done, but I was still pretty tired from Sunday.  My goal had been to get started on quilting a disappearing nine patch quilt.  But Sharla really wanted her Kissing Booth Turning 20 quilt done.  So while she pieced the back, I worked on putting together those triangles I cut. I also got her quilt back and front loaded on to the long arm.

Tuesday was quilting day.  I have to say I really love using my Handiquilter!!!  Even if the quilt isn't for me, I just get a lot of pleasure out of completing a quilt.  I just used a simple meander, and it went pretty quickly. Well except for when this one would run into the room every time the machine stopped and beg to play.  It is awfully hard to resist these sad eyes.

But once he was played with I got the quilting done.  Here it is still on the frame after the last pass.  I had turned up the tunes and was rocking as I quilted and the time went by very fast.  I think began putting the test quilt blocks together.

Wednesday night I finished the test quilt, but I can't show it here yet.  I also got the binding sewn onto the back of the kissing booth quilt.  I machine sew my binding front and back, because I HATE hand sewing. Plus with the dogs I know things will get washed a lot, so I think they will hold up better.

I really wanted to get the quilt done, so Thursday night I sewed the binding onto the front, so we could get it washed.  I love how a quilt looks after it is washed, plus it smells so good.

Here it is all washed and looking pretty!!!! I think this is my favorite of the quilts Sharla has done, I love the colors (and I should since I'm making one in the same fabrics), but also I think her piecing has improved a lot over the last year. She says there are still mistakes but I didn't notice any.

No when Friday rolled around I was one tired girl.  But I wanted to get something done, even if it was limited.  So I began putting together the pieced border for my kissing booth quilt.  I got all four sides pieced and the two long sides attached.  I would have done more but I needed to iron them and I just wasn't up to cleaning my ironing table off last night.

So that was my week.  It was long but fun.  I am hoping to get another quilt on the long arm this weekend and finished on Monday and get my third test quilt cut.  The next test quilt doesn't release until May, but I want to get it done and maybe even quilted before then.  I hope everyone is getting lots done on their #30/30SC.

Friday Finishes - Sharla's First T-shirt Quilt plus more

Happy Friday everyone, it has been a very very busy week for me.  I finished Sharla's first t-shirt quilt which we think she made in 2008, and completed two tops. Yeah me!!!!  In 2008 when Sharla and I were first getting into quilting we took a t-shirt quilt class.  She decided she didn't want to cut up her t-shirts until she knew that she liked how the quilt turned out, so she bought some plain shirts to use.  This quilt is pretty small in comparison to others we've done.  I think she was supposed to add a border to match the sashing, but never did.

I learned a lot quilting this quilt.  First and foremost patterned fabrics are my friend!!!  The bright solids are fun, but they show everything.  I've always admired Amish quilts, but until I get much better at quilting, I don't think I will be doing one.  I changed up and did loops for this one, which was lots of fun.  I still need more practice and think the next quilt I do will have them too.

I used Signature's Tie Dye thread for the front which was lots of fun, and the colors were perfect for this quilt. I did use a different color for the back because it was green, so I used Limey Greens by Signature.

I know why they say don't mix colors, and I only have one spot that is funky and since this quilt will most likely be given to Tucker or Hollywood, I'm not overly concerned.  I will say I don't know if it was because I was doing loops or if it was because of the t-shirt material, but I had a lot more thread breakage.  I had to slow down a lot to keep it from breaking, but I think I finally got it under control.

I also finished the test quilt.  I can't show it to you yet, but the pattern should be released mid-March and I will show it to you then.  I am happy with it, it's not perfect, but the colors came out great.  It is just the top and I probably won't quilt it until I get the ruler base for my Handiquilter.  But here is is when I was sewing the very last seam.

And last but not least I got my Trails End quilt top finished. I bought the layer cake on sale, because I like the colors, but once I got it, the patterns really aren't me.  I'm not a big moose person.  Overall I'm happy with it, and I'm sure someone will like it.  I still have to get backing and binding fabric for it.

Overall I'm happy with my progress this week, I got a lot accomplished I'm linking up with... Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Link a Finish Friday, TGIFF...at Devoted Quilter, Crazy Mom Quilts, NTT (Needle and Thread Thursday) and Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Fort Worth Fabric Studio.

DaGMT Update

Happy Sunday everyone, I'm a little late with my update, but it has been a busy week.  Ok maybe not real busy, but busy.  I am happy to say that I did get in my 20 minutes every day this week.  I can see the benefit of sewing everyday, but boy is it hard to fit it in everyday.

On Saturday of last week I put together the backing for the Diagonal Squares quilt, I sewed it and ironed it. I was pretty tired, so I just left it at that for the day.

Last Sunday I got the back and top of Diagonal Squares loaded onto the frame.  I watched the Handiquilter webinar last weekend and it recommended putting the top/back over the back of the machine as you roll and that really did work so much better. It takes about 30-45 minutes to load the top and back, depending on how big each one is.  So I try to load the night before so I can start quilting in the morning when I'm fresh.

Monday I started the quilting.  This quilt was longer than the ones I've been doing, so it took more time. I was whooped by the time I finished quilting it, but I'm very happy with the results. I am still working on all over meander, and slowly mastering it.

On Tuesday I was busy, so I didn't get as much done as I would have liked.  But I did get the quilt trimmed, and the binding cut.  I probably would have gotten more done, but I kept debating on which fabric to use for the binding.  I ended up using the same fabric as the backing.

By the time I got off work on Wednesday I was tired, but I did manage to get the binding sewn and the label made. I am loving using the corner label because it means no hand sewing which I really dislike!!! I also got a couple rows of my Trails End top pieced together.

Thursday was a mad binding night. I sewed both the front and the back to get the quilt done!!  I sew both sides on the machine.  Again because I don't like to hand sew, but also because I want the binding to hold up to lots of washings, with three dogs in the house, everything gets washed a lot.

Friday nights are probably the hardest for me to get sewing done. I just want to veg out in front of the TV and do nothing.  But I was good and I got the next pieces for the test quilt done. Working with such large pieces is hard for me, because I struggle to sew a straight line. On small pieces isn't too bad but on these big pieces I really see it.

I was determined to finish the test quilt, so Saturday after work I sat down and sewed and sewed and sewed until it was complete.  I can't show you the top yet, because I don't have permission from the designer, but I'm hoping to reveal it to you soon.

I also did some ironing of fabrics and played with picking out fabrics for my next quilt.  Which is also a test quilt for another designer. She approached me and I'm very excited to get started on it.  I have to get the back pieced for one of our old t-shirt quilts because that is what I want to quilt tomorrow. Hopefully I will get lots done to show you at the end of the week.