How to Maintain a Boring Blog

I often have mental goals of where I would like to be on a project when I plan posts.  Unfortunately, since things always take longer than I hope, this tends to lead to a boring blog.  For example, I currently have 8 blocks completed for the Toyko subway quilt and have been holding off posting until I have 9 for awhile now.  I just wanted to have the nice completed square!  So here you have it - the 8 finished blocks!

I'm loving how this looks.  It's so geometric and me.  :)  It's a shame these blocks are so time consuming.  It really makes it difficult to gain motivation and momentum to finish this quilt.  I had a goal to finish one a week that I was able to meet a couple weeks, but then I fell off the bandwagon.  I have 8 of 25 done - not even halfway there.  Sadness.

I must like ambitious projects

I have a knack for finding ambitious projects and deciding that I must tackle it as well.  The latest of these is the Tokyo Subway Map quilt posted by Oh Fransson.  It is just so wonderfully striking.

Over the past week or so I have sifted through my scrap bins and stash to cut all of my colored squares.  It was not a small feat.  It requires 624 patterned pieces, 85 colored solids, and 891 white squares (which I have not finished cutting).

They look so pretty all lined up!  I had a difficult time deciding on the light and dark blues and greens.  I found my stash was full of plenty of blues and greens of not only various values but also simply different shades.  A lot of my "dark" greens looked pretty terrible together.  I sorted and sorted, rearranged again and again, until I finally put them all aside.  Eventually, I did get it all worked out with some help with of a wonderfully patient friend.  It's amazing how much a new set of much more talented eyes can help.

After I had temporarily given up on the blues and greens, I decided to just make a block that didn't require any of those colors.  I needed to see a little progress after so much cutting and sorting.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to love this quilt!

Pinwheels: Week Five

This weekend I finally got around to taking photos for the blocks I finished up a couple weeks ago for the pinwheel quilt-a-long.

Love it:

Hate it:

I guess there has to be one you're not crazy about, right?

Pinwheels: Week 3

Earlier this week I whipped up my pinwheel blocks for the quilt-a-long.  I think I have said this every week so far, but I'm really loving these blocks. 

I decided that I am going to hold off on week four.  Not only does it work out wonderfully for my schedule, I think it might be a wise decision in the long run.  This week's block only has one fabric used, so it may be a nice block to have at the end.  Since we're using layer cakes and I don't know what all of the blocks look like, I'm thinking it might be a nice way to use up stray squares or to even out some colors.  We'll see if it proves to be as wise as I am expecting.   

Pinwheels: Week Two

Week Two for the Pinwheel Sampler.  I have thoroughly enjoyed making these pinwheel blocks so far.

I decided to do a little experiment with this pink block to see how much of a difference it makes to square up those half square triangles.

It's not too bad, but the green one is definitely better. It actually made a huge difference before I squared up the finished block. I suppose I'll be squaring up all of those pesky little half square triangles in the future.

Pinwheels

When I saw Rachel of p.s. i quilt's pinwheel sampler, I fell in love.  It's gorgeous!  So I decided to add making a similar one of my own to the to do list.  Fortunate for me, Rachel has decided to host a pinwheel quilt-a-long and we all now how I'm a sucker for a quilt-a-long.

I picked up a Nouveau layer cake.  Since the line has been around for awhile, I was able to pick up some yardage for only $3.99 a yard!  That's less expensive than using Kona solids for the back and binding too.  Not to mention that it is prettier too.  

This morning I was able to make the first blocks.

I'm liking what I see!

Springy Blocks

Since I don't have enough things to do already (insert sarcasm), I decided to get moving on cutting my fabric for the "On the Road to Spring" quilt-a-long.  They're simply squares and rectangles, so it was easy and mindless activity while I was catching up on the past episodes of Glee.  It was really a win-win situation.  

On the Road to Spring

If you haven't noticed yet, I am a sucker for a good quilt-a-long.  I like seeing the fun patterns people share.  I have also found that it is a nice opportunity to learn more about the quilting process.   It seems that every quilter does something a little differently and I enjoy seeing that.  As a self-taught quilter, I am always looking for new tips and tricks.

 

I saw that Randi at I have to Say... was having a quilt-a-long a few weeks ago.  I liked the pattern, but decided I had too many projects in the works and was going to pass.  Then I ordered some great fabrics and they looked so good together.  Then after I added a few from my stash, I couldn't resist any longer.

Oldie, but a Goodie

A couple years ago I joined in on Amanda Jean's first quilt-a-long.  I have finally finished that quilt.  It took long enough!  I am happy with how it turned out.  So cheery! 

And the back.  I really love the simplicity of this back.  I think I'm probably going to use this again.

Taking advantage of the Christmas tree to show off the pieced binding.  I figured, why not make the binding a bunch of crazy bright colors too?

Catch Up

While you wouldn't know it from this blog, I really have been doing a lot of sewing. Here's a bit for catch up.

I made a doll quilt and pillow for a little girl as part of Operation Christmas Child.  It is really a shame I didn't have a chance to take more pictures.  It was quite cute.  So was the little pillow that I made to go with it.  I had so much fun making this little quilt!  I even roped a friend into doing it with me.  I hope to do this again next year!

  Please ignore the cheesy smile.  My husband made me. :)

I quilted and made a binding for an oldie but a goodie.  Doesn't that binding look so pretty rolled up?  I may have postponed sewing it onto the quilt just so I could take a picture of it!  

I have a nearly finished top of for a quilt using my Daisy Chain fabric.  I am currently indecisive on the border.  I'm so close though!

I have made some serious headway on the Christmas quilt!  Yay!  I'm LOVING it!  I'm hoping to make it about twin sized.  After having this quilt around, I have come to appreciate the bigger quilts.  Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to have this quilt done in time to use for Christmas.  I am about halfway there.  Only 200+ more flying geese to make! Only...

And besides that, I have hosted a few sewing nights at my home.  Those have been so much fun!  I have loved the opportunity to share the love of quilting with my friends.  I'm in the process of teaching one how to make her first quilt.  Exciting!  I'm hoping to have many more of those to come.

Slow to Post

I finished my 9-patch quilt a couple weeks ago.  I love it!  This is the largest quilt I have completed so far at about 65"x88".  It's going to be a great winter snuggling on the couch quilt.  :)

I originally planned to quilt this similarly to the inspiration quilt.  I started that way, but after a several lines, I unfortunately realized my seams didn't line up well enough.  It looked terrible!  So I ripped it all out and went for the all over stipple.  The new machine was great for this!  I loved the extra room and quilting table.  It made it so much easier to maneuver the quilt.  I can't imagine doing this on the old machine!

 

 

For the back I used a light green solid and for the binding I used Kona Cotton Cotton in Caribbean.  I really love the color of the binding. 

Oh, one more for good measure.  :)

 

9 Patch Top: Finished!

Yesterday I was finally able to finish the 9 patch top and snap some photos to share.  I love it!

It is so bright and cheerful!  I can't wait to quilt it now.  It is so much larger than any other quilt I have done.  It should be interesting.  Good thing my husband is very good to me and is taking me to get a very exciting birthday gift this weekend!

Sneak Peek

I have every intention to finish this quilt top this weekend. However, our power inexplicably went out on Saturday from 11:30 to 8:30. Not cool, my friends.

I spent a good chunk of last night working on it instead.

I was making good time. I finished sewing the sashing on, making the strips of squares for the border, sewed those on. I was really making progress. My goal of finishing the top before I left this weekend to camp with Shawn's family looked like it might happen.

Then I realized I was out of white muslin and it was too late to go out and buy some more. Looks like this isn't getting finished until next week now! Darn!

Done. And Done!

I finished the last of my 9 patches.  Yay! 

The last 11.

I decided to make 71.  I am sure there is at least one in that stack that I am less than thrilled with.  I'm looking forward to sashing these and seeing how they all look together!  They're all pretty random, so it'll be interesting to see how this one turns out.

Back at it

I'm back to making 9 patches this evening.

I took couples weeks off to finish these quilts.

I'm now up to a grand total of 60. Yikes! I'm almost done!

Cutting myself off

I am officially cutting myself off from making more 9 patches.  This past weekend I made 9 more.  That brings me up to 48.

I really need to work on other projects!

That's Amazing!

I recently purchased a copy of Photoshop Elements.  Amazon had it on sale for $50, so I figured, why not?  I am often frustrated with how my photos turn out, so my hope is to learn how to edit them properly.


Tonight was my first attempt at using the program.  I must say,  I am amazed! Check it out!

The original:

 

Edited:

 

 

That's amazing!  And it was so easy!   

As you can see, I have been busy sewing more 9 patches.  Here are some more:

 

I am now up to 39.  Not too bad.  I have also been busy finishing up the top for my black, white & yellow quilt.  Pictures to come soon.  

More 9 Patches

I've been busy working on some more 9 patches.  They're so easy to just get in the groove of making- clearly.  Since I am up to 23 completed. 

 

 

For now, I have cut myself off until I make progress on other projects.

Yet Another Quilt-a-Long

I couldn't resist.  Even though I have decided to keep working on finishing up some projects, I decided to join AmandaJean at Crazy Mom Quilts proposed a 9 patch quilt-a-long.  She proposed making one 9-patch a day and then in 70 short days we'll have enough to make a quilt top.  Sounds good to me.  AND I really like the quilt she posted a picture of. 
I opted for 2 fabrics per block and to use scraps and fabrics from my stash.  I also like this project because it gives me a chance to use some of the obscure fabrics in my stash that I wouldn't normally use very often.  My hope is to have no two blocks be the same.  Also that I would not use one fabric more than twice.  We'll see how that one goes, though.

I  have been working on making some blocks.  I may have started to get a bit ahead of myself.  I find it to be quite addicting, to be honest.  They're so simple to make and it goes quickly.  I'm pretty results driven, so it's nearly instant gratification!  Perfect!  I figure at some point I will surely become bored with this project and move onto something else so it is better that I'm getting ahead now.

Here are my first 11.  I actually have a few more in progress.  I figured if I decided to wait until a good stopping point I might not ever post anything. 

Yes, I realize that the white piece of fabric covering over part of my background looks tacky.  That was the piece I pulled out and didn't feel like searching from the pile for something bigger.  Laziness.  Sheer laziness.

Spring to Finish

Back at the beginning of April, Jacquie at Tallgrass Prairie Studio proposed a "spring to finish" idea.  She was inviting others to join her in finishing up some of her unfinished projects during the month of April.  I decided I'd join in and had grand ideas of what I'd finish.  I often thought, "I should make a list", but did not.  And now that it is the end of April, I have only finished one project and made zero progress on the rest!  Oops! 

Last night I went to a project night with several women from my church and working on stitching the binding onto my Mod Sampler quilt.  I finished it up today after I returned from work.  So my quilt is DONE!  Yay! 

I decided to go with a pieced binding.  It is my first pieced binding actually.    I thought the solid brown with a few of the patterns from the top would tie things together and finish it nicely.  I love how it turned out!  I'm a fan.  :)

Since I made such little progress on my unfinished projects, I think I am going to actually make the list to make some goals to make more progress in May.  So here we go:

• Black & White & Yellow all over - finish the quilt
• Chantilly Quilt - finish the top
• Christmas Quilt:  Start piecing the top, possibly finish making the rest of the blocks for the top
• New Placemats
• Finish curtains
  

I'm hoping to have at least one of these quilts have the binding ready to stitch down for next month's project night.  Since sewing is really my only craft, I need to make sure I have things ready that don't require a sewing machine.  My machine is way too loud to take to a night where chatting is one of the goals of the night.