More Journals... another one bites the dust via the Mad Quilter... and a UFO challenge for me!

I whipped up some more journal covers a while back... you might notice that one is button-less. I forgot to include the stretch band for the closure!  Oh well... a sweet young lady loved the fabrics and took it just the way it is! The wild pink and purple one is mine and the other I made for my daughter. I like hers too!

The Mad Quilter (a.k.a my hubby) continues to work through finished tops that have stacked up over the past few years.  The latest one is a joint effort. I made the blocks... pieced them into rows... and then pushed them aside as I went on to bigger and better things. Hubby found them and put the rows into a top.. added a flange and borders... and then set it aside with a zillion other finished tops. Last week he pulled it out, we got it sandwiched and away he went with the quilting.

He does straight-line quilting and he has been having a blast trying new patterns.  He is an architect and it is showing in his quilting! I love the cranberry thread color.. looks so good.

Some online Quilt buddies and I have set a UFO challenge for ourselves for the first 3 months of 2011. I have "entered" 3 of my UFOs knowing full well that it will be a miracle if I get 1 done!  I have several new projects that have to be done, as well as my mom's GFG I am doing by hand that is running behind!

Even if they aren't all done by March 31, I hope to finish all of these by the end of 2011.

This is a Mile-a-Minute quilt I did a number of years ago. I attempted to quilt it. I failed. So heavy and so many seams... I only have a regular sewing machine... so I decided to tie it. Got bored after getting about 1/3 of it tied.  I need to start tying again!

I have this wonderful Fall Quilt top that is essentially done except I am adding some hand embroidered touches (leaf veins and such). About 1/2 done on that.

And lastly a redwork quilt I started years ago from an online free BOM called Child's Play. I have 11 of the 12 blocks embroidered and about 1/2 of the 12th one done. I even have fabric for the block borders and sashing and such.

The goal in the challenge is for them to be completely done.. quilted.. bound.. the works! I am shooting for the moon... hope I at least break the ozone layer!

"Belle"

Fabric Finds and 2 More UFOs done

Late last week hubby and I ran to get some quilt basting spray and just happened to peruse the fabric while shopping. We  bought a few goodies.  Actually we were very restrained!

We found some lovely Christmas fabrics to add to our already packed boxes of Christmas fabric... but it was marked down so low, how could we resist!

A love red on red and this gorgeous poinsettia print:

These 3 Kings are too cute!

The blue fabric in this picture was also labeled a Christmas fabric,  but it isn't headed to the Christmas stash. It doesn't look distinctly Christmassy to me.  I think it will be cute in a quilt for a little boy or girl. The cream TOT next to it was another great buy and there is always a need here for neutrals!

I have 2 baby quilts to make. One for a little boy whose nursery is Jungle Themed in fun bright colors. I think this jungle fabric will be just the thing for him. So fun!  The other is for a little girl whose nursery has no theme, but is done in pinks and greens. I don't think her mommy will mind some purple tossed in. I will begin the girlie quilt soon as she has a shower at the end of January.

The Mad Quilter (a.k.a. my sweet husband)  has been busy at work. He finished up 2 more tops that have been sitting on a shelf for 2 or 3 years. There is a cute coin quilt with a fun bandana fabric border. And some very fun quilting. Hubby has been having fun while working on UFOs.

And there is this mammoth quilt... ok, it isn't really mammoth, but it is big!  He used a gold thread and once again had fun with the quilting.

I haven't done as much sewing as I need to.... can't get motivated. I work part-time... deal with finances... the end of a year is not a lot of fun for me and it doesn't end on 12/31.. but soon!  Plus there is a baby quilt to start... I love making baby quilts!  No doubt that will motivate me. I have worked on some more fabric covers for journals. I will post pix of them soon.

"Belle"

Sewing Center is back up and going!

Christmas is over and all the decorations are down (except the tree.. which I will work on soon!).  The dining room is no longer a dining room... it is Sewing Central once again!  Hubby got back to quilting before me. I decided to bang up my toe and ended up sitting on the couch with it propped up for a couple of days.

He pulled out 12 quilt tops we have made individually and together over the past few years. The plan, for most, is to keep them to give away when there is a need. There is just one problem.. I end up loving them and wanting to keep them all! 

He pulled out a bright blue scrap happy top... we got it sandwiched and then the Mad Quilter was off!  Got it done in 2 days... really an afternoon and a morning. Then got it bound and it is ready to go. Hopefully it won't leave here too soon.. I really do love this one. I love bright and scrappy and fun and this quilt is ALL of those!  The binding fabric is one of my favorite fabrics too.  Here are a few pix:

Also, I found a cute pattern online right before Christmas for a fabric journal cover (http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/QuarterlyChallenge/Get-Organized.pdf) I decided to play with this a bit. Here is my cover... I did not use a ribbon, but instead used a bit of elastic to close the journal.  I do think next time I will make the cover just a smidgen larger as I can see some of the notebook peeking out at the top and bottom edges.  Overall though, I like it. I will definitely be making more.

There will be at least one more post for 2010... I think. Bought a bit of fabric today (all on sale!) and Hubby is working on quilting another top. Be watching.... "Belle"

Finishing up 2010....

My sewing area is also our dining room... my dream is to have an actual sewing studio one day where everything is together and I never have to take it down for holidays and such.. but in the meantime I thank God I have the space I do!

So sewing for 2010 has pretty much been wrapped up as Sewing Central is now a Winter Wonderland. Here are some pix of the final projects of the year... at least those done by machine.. I still have handwork to do (Thanks goodness!)

My son has been dating a young lady for close to a year now... sweet girl... a keeper! She mentioned last summer that she wanted a t-shirt quilt. I said "Bring me some shirts and I will work on one for you."  Well she brought them and that sat here all summer long!  I finally started working on them a month of so ago... and now the quilt is all done and I love it!  I did the prepping and piecing... sweet hubby did the quilting. I knew I did not want to tackle it!  He used "invisible" thread for the top.. first time to use it.  I love the pattern he used.. a basic straight line pattern, but it created a cool pattern. There is a close up photo, but it doesn't really show it as well as I would like.

I also whipped up another Pin Cushion Organizer. This one is for a dear friend... not a Christmas present.. just a happy... cause she deserves it!  I am a pink and green girl, so this one is difficult to part with!

Sigh... sewing central is down for 2010... time to start planning 2011 projects. I have no doubt I will vow to finish up all my UFOs... and then won't! LOL!  That seems to be the norm.  I actually know 2 projects off the bat.. 2 baby quilts.. a jungle themed one for a boy due in April and one for a girl due in March. Maybe I can decide on patterns and fabrics over the next few weeks.

Happy Christmas Y'all!

"Belle"

Gearing up for that end of the year push....

We are on quilting overload here. Sewing central is also our dining room... so it was down for Thanksgiving and at some point soon ( probably the week before Christmas) it will go down and be down until after the holidays. Sigh!  So Hubs and I are working like made to get everything done that needs to be done before we close the door on 2010.

He got the baby quilt top I pieced a few weeks ago quilted....












And he quilted a quick and easy cheater quilt I put together for my mom for Christmas....

I whipped up some burp pads for a friend's granddaughter...

Several years ago (2005) I made my first Christmas quilt using the Yellow Brick Road pattern and some Holly Fat Quarters my hubby had bought for me.  We dubbed the quilt Holly Jolly.  Last year I thought it would be fun to make a matching tree skirt (I had some of the fat quarters left.)  I got the blocks made, but ran out of time before getting them pieced into a skirt (Starting a Christmas project 2 weeks before Christmas is not wise!).  So I pulled them out and got them pieced together. Hubs quilted them and now we have a lovely tree skirt. Can't wait to see it under the tree!

I used some of the left over blocks to make a couple of pillows for the couch...

Then I decided we needed a couple more to add to the Christmas cheer, so made 2 more with different fabrics... I really love Hubs quilting on these...

Here is one of the couches with the quilt and one of each pillow....

There are still other projects in the works. Hubby is quilting a t-shirt quilt I put together for our son's girlfriend. It will be her Christmas present from us, even though she gave us the shirts and knows we are making it!  I have another pin cushion / thread catcher / sewing organizer to make to send to a friend.  I also want to make up some much needed pot holders / trivets and a mug rug or two.

There will be pictures!

"Belle"

"Fabricky" Fun

The past few days have been full of "fabricky" fun.  Here are a few things that have been happening...

A while back I won my quilt group's lottery... some lovely 1930s repro blocks.  This summer I put them together into a top and this past week my husband (a.k.a. the Mad Quilter) quilted and bound it for me. I think it looks great and I have already tried it out for cuddliness!  Mac and Mia think it is wonderful too!






Yesterday I spent the day with a lovely young woman who just so happens to be dating my son.  :-)  She likes craftsy things and being creative with fabric, so we decided to play. We made fabric flowers (used this  tutorial Scrappy Strip Rose ).  The photo does not show off the colors well.


The dark red one and small green one are now in my sweet friend's hair with a bit of ecru crocheted lace to enhance. Looks lovely!


This morning I was picking up our leftover strips and decided to make a purple flower for me....

I love how it turned out!  It will become a pin.


The final thing I did was put together some Yellow Brick Road blocks into a small quilt top.  This will soon become a tree skirt for our Christmas Tree. I made a quilt with the same blocks and fabric several years ago.

I love "fabricky" days!

"Belle"

Giddyup Cowboy!

There is a young couple in our church who are expecting their first child at the end of November... a boy.  I have been trying to decide what to do for them. Hubby came in as I was pondering and said "What happened to those cowboy blocks you were playing with a while back?"  That "while back" was a couple of years ago!  I started these for a project... wasn't happy with how it was going... set it aside and did something else. So I dug around and found them and the fabric and such and started again. I cannot say this is my absolute favorite quilt (I really love scrappy quilts!) but I do think it turned out cute and I know they will like it.  It will be quilted after the wee one is born. I want to put his name and birth date on the label.