Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! I'll be back after the new year. Going to spend time with family and friends, take time off work, work on some quilting projects, and work on our organizing our new house.

Anything Goes Monday Guest Host: A Year in Review

Welcome to this Guest Hosting of Anything Goes Monday. A BIG Thank You! to Marelize for sharing her special linky party with me.

And since Anything Goes, I figured it was that time of year for a "Year in Review."  Is it too early for this?

I was hoping to have some fun Christmas and Holiday crafts to show off at this point, but with my recent move I haven't had time to do my Christmas Crafts. I still don't have a Christmas Tree nor have I unearthed our Christmas decorations yet: They are still buried in our storage unit.

I started off my year with good intentions. (Don't we all?) And as the saying goes....the road IS paved with Good Intentions.

While travelling the road paved with my Good Intentions, I did manage to accomplish a few things in 2014.

• I created more pinwheels for my pinwheel quilt here and here.

• I did a short series of Quilting Tips & Tricks.  It was a lot of fun, so I've decided to bring it back in the New Year. 

• I made some soft cuddly animal pillows for my nieces and nephew you can read about here.

• I tested this pattern for Esther and finished my own Honey Honey quilt. 

Babco Unlimited - Honey Honey Quilt

• I got a new sewing machine! (Well, it's new to me even if it was well used loved by my mom.) Ya-hoo! I didn't realize how much I was fighting my old machine until I started sewing on this Bernina. What a difference.

• I helped organize the Utah Quilt Festival--a 4 day quilting retreat full of quilting and sewing classes, luncheons, vendors, giveaways, and more with my mom and aunt.

Me and Mom -- Quilt Fest 2014

• I made these super cute and comfy slippers.

Slippers

• I designed my first quilt and finished it within 4 weeks. It was chosen as 1 of 8 quilts our guild will send to the AQS show in Grand Rapids, MI.

Babco Unlimited - Paining the Roses Red Quilt

• And I'm so close to finishing my Wheel of Fortune Quilt. I hope to have it finished by the end of the year.

Wheel of Fortune Quilt

• My biggest event this year (and the reason I didn't get more quilting done) is I moved this year.  I moved from this little white house to this bigger blue house.

Which means that my old sewing space of a table crammed between the couch and the dinning table, an ironing board across the room, and my leaning tower of fabrics has a new home.

Old "Sewing Room"

I get a REAL sewing room. As in a room JUST for me and my sewing and crafts.  So far, it's just a room with bins and boxes. But it's MY room with bins and boxes. Never thought I'd be so excited about a sewing room. I did manage to set up my table...that's it so far. I haven't even set up my sewing machine on said table yet.

New Sewing Room

Seeing all that I did accomplish this past year makes me itch to write my goals for 2015. But I'll spare you that long goal list today.

I need to do something to help get us get into the Christmas Spirit and soon. It's just 10 days away! My new house doesn't have a fireplace to hang stockings, but I already have experience with that.

In years past, the kids and I have made a fireplace out of construction paper for Santa to use. Santa is pretty amazing and magical, so he can totally make use of this. Even if I don't know where any of our Christmas decorations are, I do know where the construction paper is.

Babco Unlimited - Christmas Fireplace

(Picture from Christmas 2012)

So, what about you? Have you been crafting/sewing up a Christmas/Hanuka/Kwanzaa/Holiday storm? Or have you been working on something else?

Now's the time to show off what you have been working on.

An InLinkz Link-up

A Finished Quilt

I did it! I finished this quilt the night before my deadline, and I couldn't be more happy with it.

Babco Unlimited - Painting the Roses Red Finished Quilt

This little lady bug makes me smile.  I found it in my stash and had to piece him in somehow. 

Babco Unlimited - Painting the Roses Red Finished Quilt

This is only the second quilt I have free motion quilted myself. I admit, I was very nervous about ruining my wonderful quilt top with my beginner quilting skills.

When it came time to quilt my borders, I was at a loss. I searched out inspiration on pintrest and found a few quilting motifs I thought I could manage.

Babco Unlimited - Painting the Roses Red Finished Quilt

I had to improvise with my thread choices. I had planned on using the same green variegated thread all over the backing. But when it came to quilting the white churn-dash border, I couldn't get my tension right and the green kept pulling up to the top. It was so distracting. (And frustrating!) 

I finally threw my hands in the air and quilted both sides with white thread. I was under a deadline and didn't have time for this nonsense. Now, when I look at the backing, I love how it turned out. 

Babco Unlimited - Painting the Roses Red Finished Quilt

This is a horrible picture taken by my mom, but here you go. I brought my completed project to my guild meeting last week. 

Painting the Roses Red

And guess what? It was selected to be part of our guild's entry to the AQS show in Grand Rapids, MI. The Quilt Show has a category called "The Ulitimate Guild Challenge" you can read about here.
I was beyond shocked my quilt was selected to be 1 of 8 our guild entered into this National Quilt Show.

Linked up with Anything Goes here.
Linked up with Let's Bee Social here.
Linked up with Needle and Thread Thursday here.
Linked up with TGIFF here.

I'm moving

We sold our house and have bought a new one.  I just hate the whole moving part, which is what I'll be doing this weekend. Good news is I'll get my own sewing room. Yay!

All my sewing stuff is boxed up and labeled. Let's hope the move goes smoothly, and I can find time to quilt in the next week--Quilting is my Sanity.

Update - Wheel of Fortune Quilt

So I didn't finish this quilt in time for my UFO challenge last month. 

Wheel of Fortune Quilt

 I tried, but I didn't give myself enough time to get all the quilting done.

 

I am really close to finishing it, but I have had to put it aside. Once the deadline came and went without a finished project, I've had to set it aside while I work on my current challenge and see if I can make THAT deadline.

So, here is the current state of my Wheel of Fortune Quilt.  I have quilted all the spirals.

Wheel of Fortune Quilt

My label is pieced into the back and quilted with invisible thread (mono-poly) so as to not detract from the label.

Wheel of Fortune Quilt

The borders are the only things left to quilt now. I've already made the binding, so that will be quickly added once the quilting is finished. And, yes--I realize my label says "July 2014." I really thought I'd have it done then when I pieced the back. I was optimistic. 

A Quilt Top Completed!

"I Looked Out the Window"

I'm moving right along on my challenge quilt. It has come together rather quickly and easily--that's part of the beauty of this pattern....it's all free form. I just sewed randomly to form the flowers until I got the size I wanted. I did try to keep it looking like the light was coming from the upper-right hand corner, but other than that it was just random on where things were sewn.

I know this is kinda crazy, but I basted my quilt on my back patio. (Don't tell the Quilt Police!)

I didn't want to pin baste and wanted to try using 505. But, 505 is messy. I didn't want to have to move furniture off my tile and then mop up afterwards. So....I thought about my back patio. Why not? I taped down my backing. Then sprayed on a layer of 505 and smoothed down my batting.

After another spray of 505, I laid down my quilt top and smoothed it out.

I have to say that 505 is so fast and easy! Loved it! Let's hope it truly keeps things in place while I quilt it.

Now, I'm on to the quilting. Again, I'm nervous I will ruin it with my non-stellar beginning quilting skills. I need to have it completed next week!

Linked up with Let's Bee Social here.
Linked up with Show Off Saturday here.

Challenge Quilt -- I Looked Out the Window

I am determined to finish my last challenge of the year.  With the upheaval of my life the past 6 months, I have missed all but one of my quilting deadlines this year. No more! I want to double my numbers. 

The UVQG challenge this year is to make a quilt no smaller than 120" circumference and no larger than 240" circumference with the theme of "I Looked Out the Window." You must have at least one traditional block somewhere in the quilt. It can be anything you see out our kitchen window, your front window, your work window, your car window, etc. 

I finally settled on an idea and drew out this pattern.

Babco Unlimited - Work in Progress

Can you find my traditional block? My mom thought it was the half-square triangles in the corner. Nope. My border is a churn dash block! I thought I was so clever to make my window a churn dash.

I had spent months thinking about what I would do. I had many ideas, but nothing I could settle on. Now, the deadline is fast approaching. Nothing like last minute panic to really force you to decide.

Oh, Calvin. How so very true.

Now, I'm taking strips off of tons of fabric in my stash and turning this...

....into this....

Wanna hear the crazy part about this challenge? I need to have it completely done--quilted, bound, and labeled within 2 weeks. I started this 2 weeks ago. And, I was given the challenge way back in January. Oh, and I'm moving in 2 weeks. Eek! 

Linked up with Let's Bee Social here.

Dresden Plate & Trapunto

I have always loved the Dresden Plate. It is classic and timeless. It's been on my radar since the beginning of my Quilting Life (QL)--That's a term, right?

At Quilt Fest, I took an amazing class on the Dresden Plate pattern.  I loved this class for so many reasons. First, the teacher was kind, patient, encouraging, and so helpful. Second, our teacher took us through the entire process of making a Dresden Plate quilt. We learned how to assemble the "plate," how to appliqué it on a block, how to quilt it, how to do trapunto in the negative space, how to piece the border, how to finish it with a piping border. I now have all the pieces I need to create my own Dresden Plate Quilt.

I cut 2-1/2" strips from my 30's reproduction fabrics for the fans and purchased some Kona Cotton for the green blades in the design. Overall, I was really happy with how it turned out. 

Dresden Plate Sampler

It was fun to see everyone's individual choices. We put up everyone's blocks on the wall to take a picture. My favorite is the red and blue in the bottom right-hand corner. So adorable, fresh and modern.

Have you ever tried Trupunto? I've heard about it, and many people would say "Oh, it's so easy! You just yada yada yada and you're done!" I'd get lost in the "yada yada yada" part of their breezy explanation. In this class, we went through all the steps to create trupunto quilting, and it actually really is so easy. However, I had to do it for myself to really understand it. 

For those wondering, Trapunto is a method of quilting where you have a stuffed, puffy, decorative feature producing a raised surface on the quilt.

Here is my practice piece.

Can you tell that the feather is stuffed and raised?

Trapunto

Now I'm in contemplation mode. Do I continue with these color choices?  Do I change the color of the blade from green to a 30's black print? Or do I do something more modern?

I do like the idea of having some hand work to take with me or to work on while watching TV with the family. This will be a long-term project for sure.


Linked up with Let's Bee Social here.
Linked up with WIP Wednesday here.
Linked up with Needle and Thread Thursday here.

Cathedral Window

I still remember the first time I saw a Cathedral Window Quilt. An antique Cathedral Window Quilt was displayed at the Peteetneet Quilt Show, and I was awed. It looked so intricate, delicate, and beautiful. However, I also thought I would never make one myself.

Soon, I was seeing modern versions of the Cathedral Window and modern ways of piecing it popping up on pinterest and quilt blogs. It quickly found a place on my Quilty Bucket List. But, no matter how many online tutorials and videos I watched, I couldn't quite grasp how it was made.

The mystery surrounding this design was recently dispelled for me. At Quilt Fest, I took a class on making Cathedral Window quilt by machine. I didn't make a whole quilt, but I learned the basics and made a small sample. 

All the stitching is done by machine.

Some parts are obviously better than others. But, this was my first attempt.

I do like how quickly this comes together by piecing it by machine. However, I'm not too keen about all the stitching in the center point. I think I will need to make some adjustments to the instructions so that I'm not stitching over that point so many times. It just looks messy to me. I don't like messy. 

I love that I now have the know-how on how to make this elusive design. Now to decide on what I want to make with this. Do I make an actual quilt? What size? Or do I make a cute pillow? 

Choices Choices!

Linked up with Let's Bee Social here.
Linked up with WIP Wednesday here.
Linked up with Show Off Saturday here.

FMQ Friday #6 - Quilting Wheel of Fortune Quilt

I'm on a deadline.

Earlier this year, I signed up to participate in a UFO challenge with two separate guilds. I completely botched it with one guild because of all the time and energy I spent preping for my upcoming move. I still have a chance with the second guild....but I have to have it done--as in quilted, bound, and labeled--by Wednesday. Holy Moly--that is in 5 days! I don't know if I'll get it all done.

I found, what I thought, was the PERFECT thread for my project from Superior Threads. I mean, isn't it beautiful? 

Superior Thread

I love the brightness of this variegated thread. I was beyond excited when I got it.

Wheel of Fortune Quilt

It matches so perfectly, it was as if it was designed JUST for my quilt. But then I tried it out on a tester sample.  Even though it takes time to create a tester block, I am always ALWAYS so glad that I did.

Wheel of Fortune Quilt Block

I didn't love the thread anymore. Oh, it was perfect for the back of the quilt, but it detracted from the block. It was TOO noticeable on the front, especially in all the negative space. I also decided to stop the spiral before I got to the pink ring.

After much deliberation and thought, I decided to go with a MonoPoly thread on top and this beautiful variegated pink on the bottom. 

Wheel of Fortune Quilt

I am so happy with this! The spiral is still there, but now the thread doesn't become the star of the show. 

Now I must try to wrestle with my quilt in my little Bernina 200. Quilting a small 9" square block is SO completely different than a 55"x 60" quilt. 

Wheel of Fortune Quilt

Wish me luck. I'm gonna need it.

Linked up with Needle and Thread Thursday here.

Pigs in a Blanket

Look at these cozy slippers!

My feet wrapped in snugly softness whilst relaxin' on my bed.

Just another day around the house in my comfy slippers

I made these cute slippers while at Quilt Fest. They were so incredibly easy to make, and I finished them in class! So nice when that happens.  I didn't have time to do any embellishments, but that's ok. I might add some later, but I still like them like this.

It was so fun to see everyone's fabric choices and how different they all looked. I just pulled fabric out of my stash, including the navy blue minky on the inside, and really love the finish look.

The pattern can be found here and is by The Quilted Fish. The pattern is easy to read, with clear instructions and lots of helps. The slippers can be made in any size from toddler to adult woman and any size in between--she even tells you exactly how to do each whole size.

When I showed these to my family, MK looked at them in awe and asked if she could have a pair too.  In pink.

Liked up with Show Off Saturday here.
Linked up with Anything Goes Monday here.

Quilt Fest Projects

Me and Mom at Quilt Fest 2014

Me and Mom, Quilt Fest 2014

I had such a great time at Quilt Fest. I learned a lot, made new friends, saw old friends, and laughed a lot. Already looking forward to next year's event. It's on my calendar. 

Quilt Fest is the only time I take quilting and sewing classes, so I fill up my schedule with as much as I can. Classes are held for 4 days and I signed up for the following classes:

Dresden Plate

Invisible Appliqué

Hand Quilting

Slippers

Cathedral Windows by Machine (it's on my Quilty Bucket List)

All Machine Binding

Sorry to report, I did miss one class--the Invisible Appliqué. I got sick and couldn't attend the class. I think all the stress I've been dealing with finally caught up with me the first moment I've slowed down in months.

I started a post where I reported on EVERYTHING I did...but it got so long. I've decided I'll do a separate post on each class.

Stay posted...

Pink Block Challenge Items

I'm still unpacking from my week at the Utah Quilt Fest, so I'll have pictures of my creations later.

Last year, I took part of the "Save the Boo-bies" block challenge and made these two different blocks for the Utah Quilt Fest:

I even won 3rd place Viewer's Choice for the flower block on the left last year. Ya-hoo!

The Fundraiser works by selling a challenge fabric. Each person then makes a 12" finished block of their choice using that fabric. The blocks are then made into items to sell. They make money from selling the fabric and from selling the finished products. Funds raised go to support a women's hospital in Southern Utah.

This year, I was too busy to make a new block for this year's challenge. BUT, I did get to see what they made with my blocks from last year. It was so fun to know I made part of it. 

My flower block was incorporated into a quilt with several other blocks.

My starburst block was made into a messenger bag. I LOVED this. I was so tempted to bid on it.

It was so fun to see what was made with last year's blocks and to feel like I really contributed. It made me smile to see my blocks made into a quilt and bag and feel like I am helping raise money for a worthy cause. 

It has motivated me to make sure I participate again next year. 

Linked up with Anything Goes Monday here.

Getting Ready for Quilt Fest

I'm making up for months of no sewing by going away for 4 days to the Utah Quilt Fest. I don't feel ready at all, and still have a few things I need to pick up before I leave on Tuesday. However, I did spend a few hours on Saturday trying to get everything I needed for my classes packed. 

Packing for Quilt Fest

I'm excited for the classes I've signed up for.

• Dresden Plate
• Invisible Appliqué
• Hand Quilting
• Slippers
• Cathedral Windows by Machine (it's on my Quilty Bucket List)
• All Machine Binding

I'll have lots of pictures next week.

House for Sale

Home for Sale

I know I haven't posted anything in a while. The last 2 months has been spent cleaning, fixing, packing, purging, etc. getting our home ready to sell. Included in that time was finishing the great room in our basement. The good news 11 days after listing the house we have an offer. Hopefully, everything will go through. *crosses fingers*

With all that has been going on, I have neglected my sewing. I have barely touched my sewing machine.

But no more! Next week I leave for Utah Quilt Fest. Four and half days of quilting, classes, trunk shows, luncheons, lectures, and fun. I am so not ready, I have so much to do do get ready. And I need to hurry because I leave Tuesday morning. Eek!